Connected
by FuschiaFinn
Summary: Rufus meets his match just before he and the Turks face the sins of Shinra's past. Rufus x OC
1. Prologue

**_Hello! I am at it again. Or some more. Or something. Anyway, welcome to my first OC story. Alas, I could not see hooking Rufus up with anyone in his current social circle which led me to create someone for him. It's only fair I suppose, it's not like the main characters would stop meeting new people. Anyway, this is the set up chapter so it's short. More follows. Enjoy!_**

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Prologue

Things worked out much better than Rufus could have hoped. Kadaj and his brothers were defeated, Sephiroth came back, but not for long and Rufus was cured of Geostigma. All his Turks survived and Rufus was able to go to sleep that night feeling that he had made a dent in the huge debt he owed the Planet and the people who lived there. Best of all, everyone knew it. He had been seen shooting at Kadaj. That was in addition to Reno and Rude fighting the other two shinentai with plenty of interested onlookers taking note.

Immediately after the cleansing rain had come, all four Turks had joined in the efforts to repair what the shinentai had destroyed. Rufus himself had coordinated many of the relief efforts and put his vast knowledge and resources to work on behalf of the citizens of Midgar. Even AVALANCHE was forced to admit that Rufus appeared sincere in his desire to make amends. They didn't trust him; maybe they never would. But his decision to support Reeve as the leader of the W.R.O. went a long way to soothing concerns.

After things stabilized once again Rufus officially moved into private life. Those in the know were aware that his powerful influence remained pervasive, but he was content to keep a fairly low profile in exchange for the ability to keep his options open. The Turks adapted well. There was still a need for muscle, for weapons and explosives experts. They weren't the good guys, but they weren't the worst guys, and in a world that had faced Weapons, Sephiroth and the Shinentai, the Turks looked almost decent in comparison. The four of them ostensibly worked for Reeve, but everyone knew they were still loyal to Rufus Shinra. Some things would never change


	2. Driven to drink

_**All the profitable characters belong to Square Enix.** **The chapters will be longer after this, fear not. **  
_

_I don't want to spend the rest of my days  
Keeping out of trouble like the soldiers say…_

_Invisible Sun - Sting and Aswad_

When her coworkers invited her to a birthday party/excuse to get drunk _en masse_ at a local bar, Jacinta Guerin, known as Jace, should have given her usual response and turned down the invite with a smile and a shrug. To tell the truth, part of her did, namely the boring part of her brain that kept her sober and decently dressed and away from impromptu parties. But that bastion of reasonable behavior was, in this instance, effectively overruled by a horrible month spent trying to put Midgar back together as a mid-level flunky in the W.R.O.

Normally, Jace loved her job helping put the world back on an even keel. Most of the time she relished the challenge of finding the information people needed and helping her coworkers create and implement ideas that made other's lives better. She felt doubly lucky that she had the chance to attend department meetings and watch the head of the W.R.O., Reeve Tuesti, in action. His energy, dedication and good humor were inspiring. Her job and her belief in the work that the organization was doing as a whole gave Jace focus. She'd tried aimless wandering before and found it to be boring at best, and painful at its worst. She needed a place to be and a cause to invest herself in.

Jace arrived at work early and left late, determined to make a good impression. Besides, she didn't have many friends outside the office, no pets and her only living relative was in Cosmo Canyon. She would have never thought it before Meteor, but she was good at paperwork and the little intricacies that went into rebuilding and expanding infrastructure. Her particular talents lay in organization and information retrieval, and she was recognized as a valuable member of the records department. Jace took her work home with her, turned up the music and labored late into the night. Reeve was fond of reminding people that the Planet couldn't be fixed in an hour, but that each hour counted. Jace took that to heart and pushed herself to meet or exceed expectations.

This past month however, had made her wish she had stayed in Cosmo Canyon with her crazy hippie aunt. Everything that could go wrong had, from lost paperwork to crooked contractors to an indelible coffee stain on her favorite shirt… she didn't even drink coffee! Jace was ready to commit violence against the office equipment, set fire to her cubicle mate's music collection, break down crying, or all three simultaneously. She practically leapt at the chance to go out before she was found drinking toner. Jace hurried home, changed into jeans, comfortable shoes and a white tank top over which she threw a men's dress shirt to ward off the unseasonable chill.

Twenty minutes later she was in a bar, watching warily as Ivy from Accounting knocked back five shots of tequila in less then a minute, then burped her name. _Riiiiight_. Jace was seriously reconsidering the entire affair. The entire bar was filled to bursting with W.R.O. employees, and apparently everyone had had the same sort of crappy month. _Do I really want to get drunk with people I know?_ Then she shrugged. She was here to release some steam right? Everyone else was having a good time and no one else seemed worried about later embarrassment. Jace leaned toward Rourke, a supervisor from her department and inquired as to what he was drinking because she wanted to order the same. His eyes widened.

"By the Gods people!" he crowed, grabbing the attention of everyone within hearing distance. "Jacinta Guerin is going to drink!" There was a moment of what Jace could only surmise was stunned silence, and then a cheer sounded that was taken up by the rest of the bar. Jace had to fight the impulse to slide underneath the table. Apparently, she needed to loosen up more. She used to party in Cosmo Canyon, but she'd avoided it here. _New place, new start and all that_. But she was a big girl now and it was time to act like it. With the raucous encouragement of Rourke, Ivy and the rest ringing in her ears, she knocked back two shots, one right after the other. More cocktails and shots quickly arrived as her delighted colleagues took turns buying her drinks.

Not much later, Jace was more then a little happy. She sat in a booth with Rourke and Ivy, smiling benevolently at the room and at the drinks that continued to arrive. She turned back to her companions in time to watch Ivy throw back yet another shot and then list sharply to the left. Jace frowned and leaned forward to inquire about the other woman's condition, nearly knocking over three drinks as she did so. _Oops, not solid there_ Jace thought and then giggled. With exaggerated care she leaned forward again, and asked Rourke if Ivy was going to be all right. Rourke assured her that Ivy always drank too much early on. Just then Ivy's head hit the table with a bang and Rourke sighed.

"I was going to just put her in a cab, but I don't think she'd be able to open her front door at this point. I don't want to leave you though…" Rourke slid out of the booth and gently tugged on Ivy until she was standing swaying next to him. Jace didn't miss the flash of tenderness in his face as he looked at the blonde in his arms.

"I'm fine…really," Jace said, making every effort to sound completely lucid. Rourke obviously bought it, because he shot her a grateful smile, said goodbye and began leading Ivy toward the door. Jace smiled and settled back, quietly pleased with life in general. Rourke was a nice guy and she really was feeling more or less fine. Plus it was nice to have the booth to herself for a bit. All in all tonight was going well. There was still a small army of drinks waiting for her attention but since she hadn't paid for any of them let the little darlings sit for a while.

A slim body slid smoothly into the booth next to her and Jace blinked. She found herself being studied by a pair of too-bright green eyes. Studying them right back, she felt her lips curving into a goofy little smile. _Do I know this man from somewhere?_ A name sprang to mind and Jace leaned back a bit to take in the man's entire face, which confirmed her suspicion.

"Reno…"

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	3. Meet your friendly local Turk

**_The profitable ones belong to Square Enix. _**

****

_'Cause I've got friends in low places  
where the whiskey drowns  
and the beer chases my blues away_…

Friends in Low Places, Garth Brooks

Reno had started out the night in less than a charming mood. The past month had been shit, both with Rufus and at the W.R.O. He'd been making progress with a certain princess, but for some reason she'd been avoiding him for a week and Reno was at a loss as to why. The final blow had been his beloved EMR malfunctioning and giving him a nasty shock this afternoon. Reno decided tonight was the night for drunken revelry that rivaled the old days.

He'd managed to talk Rude into a little drink… or twenty… and headed down to one of his favorite bars, only to find the place overrun by pencil pushers in varying degrees of intoxication. He considered calling it a night and heading home where a handle of vodka waited patiently for his affections, but decided against it. He was a Turk, damn it, and he wasn't going to be pushed off his turf by a herd of plastered desk jockeys.

Reno shouldered his way through the crowd, Rude behind him, determined to get to one of the booths in the back and evict its current occupants. When he and his partner finally made it to the back, his eyes fell on a sight guaranteed to make his whole night. A hot woman in apparent possession of a small army's worth of booze. Drinks were clustered in front of the brunette, and as he watched, even more were dropped off. She was popular, whoever she was, and as he watched her molest a cherry he gained an understanding as to why. Reno grinned and looked up at his partner. Rude, being Rude, just raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, c'mon yo…" Reno said. "I'll be good. I just want to say hello to her and her lovely…" Rude's eyebrow went higher. "Drinks!" Reno sputtered indignantly. "I'm gonna get some free drinks! Damn bro, what kinda guy do you think I am?" Rude said nothing. Reno sighed. He'd been a lot better behaved in the last few months, especially after he decided to go after the princess, but he had been a slut before that. "Tell you what man, don't answer that question." Reno's voice was slightly subdued. Rude still said nothing, but his lips curled up at the sides. Reno smiled back after a moment and then turned to make his way over to the liquor blessed brunette.

Reno gave the woman a quick once over as he slid into the booth next to her. He was behaving, but he wasn't dead. She'd looked good from a distance; up close she was even better. Had she but known it, Jace might have been surprised by how attractive a picture she presented, considering the amount of alcohol she had consumed. The muted bar light gave her brown skin a glow; her lips were red and glossy, most likely from her last drink, and her brown eyes were wide and bright. Her short dark hair was a little wild due to her suddenly discovered need to run her fingers through it every few minutes. She had discarded her over shirt about an hour ago and her generous natural assets rested comfortably on the table as she leaned forward. Brown eyes raked over Reno in undisguised appraisal.

"Reno…" Her lips parted into a full fledged grin at the Turk's nod. Jace had never met Reno or the other Turks personally, but she knew of them. She'd seen them and Rufus Shinra around the building from time to time. They were whispered about in the hallways, speculated on in the lunch room and fantasized about during coffee breaks. Jace frowned for a moment, trying to cudgel her brain into providing information about Reno. He was the bad boy. Well, they were all bad but he was _very_ bad. The hard smoking, hard drinking, turn- the- air- blue boy who was as famous for his one night stands as for his hair. Jace leaned forward slightly, eyeing that hair. _There's no way that color's natural._ His smile widened as if he knew what she was thinking.

"The carpet does match the curtains sweetness," he drawled, proving his powers as a mind reader, and snagged one of her drinks. Jace didn't mind. She needed the help. Smiling at Reno again, she selected one herself.

"I prefer the saying that the collar matches the cuffs," she purred. "Then again, it could just be because I _like_ collars and cuffs." Out of the corner of her eye, Jace could see that the bald man who had invaded her booth with Reno had lifted both eyebrows. She turned her head to grin at him full force. If she remembered correctly, his name was Rude and he was the quiet one. Rude nodded at her and took another of her drinks. _Oh good. More for them is less for me to worry about_.

"So, sweetheart," Reno captured her attention again. She looked at his glass. Goodness, not two minutes and he had already consumed two thirds of it. Jace's eyes widened then narrowed. Thought he could beat her, did he? Well, she had not yet begun to drink!

"Yes?" Jace replied before laying into her cocktail with a vengeance.

"You know _my_ name, beautiful," Reno drawled, grabbing and tossing back another glass. "What's yours?"

"Jace." She replied and knocked back another shot. She focused on the man across the table. "You're Rude, correct?"

Rude nodded as he watched Jace and Reno speedily dispose of drink after drink. The girl had already had a few, but she was doing a fairly decent job of keeping up with Reno. Reno flicked him a glance and Rude mentally sighed. His partner was a real pain when he was frustrated. Rude resigned himself to dealing with this Jace girl after Reno was done with her.

"I'm impressed kid," Reno said after a minute. "You're almost keeping up with me."

_Yep_, Rude grumbled to himself. _Here it comes. Reno challenges some poor soul to a drinking contest which they'll lose because Reno bleeds eighty proof. Then I'll be stuck shoving the idiot into a cab and sending her home while Reno continues to drink._ Rude had asked Reno once why he bothered, and received the typical Reno answer along with a shrug and a grin.

"_I think it's funny. Gotta release tension somehow, ya know?" _

Rude silently prayed that this Jace girl was smart enough to resist…

"Is that a challenge Red?"

He groaned as Jace rose to the bait and Reno smiled widely. If there was one thing Reno had a weakness for, it was feisty women. Reno and Jace traded banter as Rude stared gloomily into his glass. _At least there was already a lot of alcohol on the table._ For some reason, whenever Reno challenged someone to a drinking contest Rude ended up with the tab.

"Hey, Rude!" Reno's jovial tones snapped him out of his morose thoughts. He looked up to see both Reno and Jace leering at him and realized with a sinking feeling that he should have been paying attention. Both were staring at him with identical grins. "Hey Rude," Reno said again. "You're in this too, partner, so help me out." Rude raised an eyebrow. "Seems Jacey here doesn't think much of the Turks drinkin' skills, me boyo," He gestured at Jace, who was currently smirking into her cocktail. "She says that if we were real men, we wouldn't take advantage of a poor lightweight girl like her." Before Rude could point out that he hadn't tried to take advantage of anyone at all, Reno dropped the other shoe.

"So I told her," the redhead said jubilantly, "that we would match every drink she took with two. Don't groan like that." Reno shot Rude a frown and continued. "We're Turks, ain't we? You're not gonna let some little girl insult the pride of the Turks are you?" The partners looked at each other and waged a silent battle of wills, and then Rude sighed heavily. Reno and his new friend were going to get plastered whether he stayed sober or not. _I might as well join the fun, because I'm going to have to deal with the fall out one way or another_. Rude gave a brief nod and Reno whooped, while Jace sent him a blinding smile. Rude resisted the urge to shake his head and began fishing in his pocket.

"We're going to need more drinks."

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	4. Well hello there!

_**The profitable ones belong to Square Enix. **_

_Think things move pretty fast down here  
but just wait my dear _

_'till we get up there_…

_When it started – The Strokes_

First and foremost, the sun was too loud. Jace didn't have very many coherent thoughts when she woke up the next morning but that was by far the most strident. _Stupid sun. Stupid open blinds. Stupid waking up only a few minutes before I need to be at my desk. Stupid needing to get up even though I feel like my head is splitting open. Stupid coworkers suggesting a bacchanalia on Thursday instead of Friday like normal people. Stupid me for agreeing to go_.

Carefully rolling over, Jace decided this one could be blamed entirely on boredom and booze. Nothing else could explain why she didn't immediately discard the idea that it would be fun to get into a drinking contest with Reno the Turk. The fact that she had conceived of the idea at all should have worried her. She pressed her fingertips into her temples and groaned. She had attempted to out drink Reno, the man who had probably been birthed fully formed from a handle of whiskey. To top it off, she had involved his friend, Rude the monolith. Where others would have seen alcohol poisoning or assault charges on the horizon, Jace had seen only opportunity. There had been a time when she'd been infamous for these sorts of stunts, but the magical days of no hangovers had apparently passed. _Stupid getting older._

She dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom. She didn't even question the fact that the toilet seat was up. She simply put it down, did what needed to be done and then stumbled into the bathtub and tried to take the hottest shower she could. Oh, how she missed water pressure. Getting water pressure back to the middle and lower class areas, that was her new calling. She leaned out of the stall far enough to grab her toothbrush and toothpaste, barely glancing at the state of the sink, then ducked back in and gave her teeth a vigorous going over. The sock she had apparently spent the night sucking on did not shift easily, and moving her head enough to really get breath- freshening results seemed a risky proposition, given the headache sitting at the edge of her consciousness.

After what felt like an age, she judged the job to be done as best as it was going to be, rinsed her mouth and turned her attention to her hair. She didn't even want to guess what state it was in. _It's probably sticking out like a fright wig, but at least it doesn't hurt_ Jace thought as she put a dollop of shampoo on her hand and worked it into lather. She ducked under the spray, eyes tightly closed. She always saved shampooing for next to last because she hated to open her eyes with water running down her face. After she finished her hair, she always washed her face with her eyes still closed, and then dried off. Then she was going to get dressed, drag herself to work and die at her post.

Odd. Her hair should have been hanging limply over her forehead and next to her ears, weighed down by the water. _Huh?_ Jace leaned her head forward, out of the spray and put her hands to her scalp.

Her scream could be heard for blocks.

The 'I have no hair, what the living fuck?' scream was soon followed by the 'two men just burst into the bathroom brandishing weapons and ripped aside the shower curtain' shout. That segued nicely into the 'I'm naked and they don't seem inclined to vacate the area, in fact the red haired one is grinning like an idiot' outraged shriek. Jace forgot about her inexplicably bald pate entirely and began launching bath accessories at the Turks as fast as she could grab them.

"Get out, get OUT, GET OUT!" she shrieked, as Rude finally dragged a loudly protesting Reno from the room, and thoughtfully closed the door behind them. Jace stood in the rapidly cooling water for a moment, shaking uncontrollably, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. In a daze she turned off the shower, just in time to catch the sound of the front door opening as the Turks made their escape.

"The hell they are!" She grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself as she ran into the front room. Reno was already halfway into the hallway, while Rude stood holding the door. Jace stopped dead, her chest heaving with righteous indignation. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" she hissed. Both Turks turned back to her. Jace was still dripping wet, her towel showed about as much as it concealed and her random shivers caused certain parts of her to bounce slightly. She would have been an enticing sight had it not been for the look in her eyes, which promised not merely murder, but slow torture of the kind that only a very angry woman can deliver. Rude watched her warily as Reno shrugged.

"We had fun, sweet cakes, but we've got to get going. The boss called." Reno held his hands up in a manner that signaled 'sorry but my hands are tied'. Jace was distinctly unimpressed.

"Why…" she took a calming breath. "Why don't I have any hair? And what are you two doing here?" An odd odor made itself apparent and she sniffed suspiciously. "Why does my apartment smell like pancakes?" She paled as the potential answer to her second question washed over her. Her eyes swept the living room as if searching for evidence of unsavory activities. Her gaze snapped back to Reno when she heard his low chuckle.

"Well a gentleman never kisses and tells…" he said, electing to really enjoy the moment. He may be one of the good guys now but he was only partially reformed. If the girl didn't know what happened, he was under no obligation not to have a bit of fun at her expense. It had been a while since he'd been able to just be plain mean. Reno stepped back into the apartment and moved toward Jace, his face quickly taken on a stricken expression.

"Besides, baby," his tone was low and tinged with hurt. "You were there. You should know. We did things…" Here he allowed his lips to curl into the faintest hint of a smirk. Jace's wide eyes and shocked expression were priceless. He continued to move forward until they were less then a foot apart and looked down at her. Wonder infused his next few words. "We did things that I've never done with a woman before. I think it was new to my partner too. Baby… you may be the freakiest woman I've ever known…"

Rude saw it coming even if Reno didn't. In one smooth motion Jace rammed her fist into Reno's midsection. The girl had very good form, catching Reno right in the solar plexus and stepping smoothly back to let her victim hit the floor unimpeded. Ignoring his partner's graceless drop to the floor and gasping breaths, Rude regarded Jace carefully. She had dropped her chin to her chest but he had the feeling she was oblivious to the man writhing at her feet. Rude felt bad for her; she seemed nice enough even if she had questionable taste in drinking and dance partners. He cleared his throat. Jace looked up at him. She seemed… lost somehow.

"We drank and danced at the bar until it closed about two hours after Reno and I first arrived. At that point we found a liquor store, stocked up and came back here." Rude kept his voice entirely neutral as he recited the facts. "We continued to drink until you said you were hungry. Reno taught you how to make his signature pancakes. We ate and then drank some more until you then complained about how hot it was. You and Reno stripped to your underwear. You admired my head and we offered to shave yours to match. You agreed. We shaved your head. Shortly after that you passed out and I put you to bed. Reno and I slept out here."

Rude took a deep breath. That little recitation comprised more words then he normally used in front of a relative stranger and Rude felt a little off balance. But he figured she was owed the knowledge that she hadn't half the things she was probably imagining. Jace seemed a nice enough girl and she was, to some extent, a co-worker since he was a part-time W.R.O. employee. Besides, she'd been a hell of a lot of fun last night. She was funny and certainly had a sense of adventure. Reno hadn't lied about her being the first woman they'd ever made pancakes with and then shaved bald. One, or the other, but never both and never in the same night.

Jace was studying him intently. Reno had stopped writhing and was now lying on his back, making the occasional pained noise and shifting his head slightly to the right. Rude was fairly sure his partner was trying to look up the towel Jace still had wrapped around her. She didn't break eye contact with Rude as she kicked Reno in the shoulder, engendering another round of cursing.

"So… you put me to bed?" she said slowly. Rude nodded briefly. "You said I was still wearing underwear when you shaved my head. I wasn't wearing any when I woke up this morning." Her left eyebrow rose slightly.

Rude grunted and fought the urge to adjust his tie. Suddenly Jace shrugged and grinned at him. Normally only kids smiled that wide. There was a flash of something dark in her eyes but she seemed to shake it off and find the humor in the situation. She was apparently willing to let it go as no harm, no foul. Rude was grateful for that blessing since she could have chosen to take any complaints she might have to Reeve who would immediately pass them to Rufus and Tseng who would immediately make Reno and Rude's lives a living hell, to say nothing of what it would do to Reno's chances with Yuffie. Rude nodded at Jace, acknowledging her acceptance of his recitation of events.

Once she was sure she and Rude had come to an understanding Jace turned the full force of her grin on Reno as he stood up. The red head eyed her warily as she approached him.

"I'm sorry Reno. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Well, not much anyway." Jace sidled closer and pressed her self against Reno's front. Not enough, Rude noted, to be completely crass but enough to bring a half smile to his partner's face. Jace looked adoringly at Reno, long eyelashes going a mile a minute. "Forgive me?" She pressed just a bit closer and shimmied against him just the slightest bit until Reno nodded. Rude was impressed. If Elena ever took it into her head to handle Reno that way the red head might actually do his own paperwork. On the other hand Reno would be in serious trouble with Tseng at that point…

"Ruuuuude…" she crooned. Rude looked at her inquiringly. Jace's grin dropped as her hangover made a sudden resurgence. The smell of pancakes, smoke and liquor was beginning to make her stomach roil. "Can I get a ride to work?"

So it was that Jacinta Guerin walked into W.R.O. headquarters forty minutes late, flanked by two Turks and wearing her P.J.'s, slippers and a hooded sweatshirt that proclaimed "In Costa Del Sol, everything goes down but the sun!" A hush fell over the lobby as nearly every head turned to watch the trio pass. Even those who didn't know Jace recognized Rude and Reno and stared. Turks did not escort women dressed in their jammies and furry slippers to the elevators.

Reno laughed and waved to the stunned onlookers. Rude, being Rude, acted like this was completely normal. Jace, scooting along in her slippers with her head down, didn't really notice that she had been identified and that her reputation was undergoing rapid revision. She was listening to the sweet siren song of her darkened cubicle and enough green tea to marinate a chocobo. Barely registering the ding of the elevator doors, she totally missed the fact that the men on either side of her stiffened. Jace shuffled onto the elevator, head still bowed and immediately turned to her left and attempted to burrow into Rude's side. She knew him well enough to curl up to him right? The man had shaved her head after all. For a moment silence reigned.

"Miss Guerin?"

Reeve's soft question cut through Jace's haze like nothing else could have. She sucked in a deep breath and swiftly looked up to face her boss, her headache making her immediately regret her speed. Alas, Reeve had company. Jace's somewhat bleary gaze lingered briefly on a pretty blonde woman and a severe Wutain, respectively named Elena and Tseng, if she remembered right. They were both dressed in the standard Turk uniform and looked very impressive. Jace's eyes turned to the man standing between them. There stood Rufus Shinra, looking like the best thing since sliced bread, his face impassive.

Years later Jace would attribute her impressive calm to the hangover and the location. She was too tired to scream or cry and there was nowhere to run, not that she would have gotten far. Jace simply released Rude's arm, drew herself up to her full 5'8" and assumed a placid expression. She willed her headache down enough to convincingly project competence. Her actions were completely normal, she told herself. They were the ones who were odd. Really, what in the hell were Reeve, Rufus Shinra and his pet bodyguards doing in the elevator at this time of the morning on a Friday?

_Because you're wearing a target on your back that only the fates can see_, her inner voice commented. Jace told it to shut up or she'd drink like this more often. The inner voice wisely held its tongue as she focused on her boss. Reeve was a known quantity in all this.

"Miss Guerin. Why are you being… escorted by Reno and Rude?" Reeve was obviously very confused, but there was a hint of anger in his voice as well. Jace wasn't sure at whom that displeasure was directed. She felt Rude stiffen even more and hazarded a guess that Reeve was worried on her behalf. It would be all too easy to infer that she had been treated much worse then she had. Jace almost cracked a quick grin. Reeve was a wonderful man to work for because he was very much like a father.

"We were… fostering inter-departmental cooperation sir." Jace realized the implications of her statement only after watching Elena and Reeve's eyebrows disappear into their hairlines. Tseng shot his subordinates a look that promised painful and prolonged punishment. However, Rude and Rufus didn't seem at all affected; in fact, Reno laughed. Jacinta withheld a sigh. _I'm surrounded by perverts_. _How best to divert their attention? When in doubt, throw Reno under the bus!_

"Reno makes a hell of a pancake." Sudden silence from her right. She continued in her very best deadpan voice. "He looked so cute in my moogle apron." Next thing she knew, she was blinking in the bright overhead light as Reno flipped her hood back. She slowly turned to face him; he wore a triumphant smirk and had the audacity to wink at her. "You bastard." She found herself chuckling even as she said it. Her sensible inner voice was back, screaming that she was, for all intents and purposes, flirting with one of the Turks who had helped shave her bald. Not only that, but she was doing it in front of her boss, the Turks' boss and Rufus Shinra. Jace determinedly ignored that voice and focused her nervousness into adrenaline. Her headache seemed to fade a bit further into the background and she sent Reno a challenging smirk and a wink. His face softened just a bit, his smile becoming more open.

"Better a bastard than a bitch," he drawled. Tseng barked Reno's name, annoyance coloring his tone.

Jace just flipped her hood back up. "Who you callin' bitch, pancake queen?"

"Whore."

"Wuss."

"Lush."

"Somewhere a chocobo herd is missing their leader…" The elevator doors dinged and then opened. Jace turned and stepped out, feeling somehow better about life.

"At least I have hair!" Reno yelled after her. "See you later, Rudette!" Jace turned and stuck her tongue out at him, a gesture he returned. They grinned at each other as the elevator doors closed. She took a deep breath and turned to face her shocked co-workers, smiled and silently, headed for her cubical.

**_Please review! No really, I'd like to know what my audience thinks!_**


	5. What is and is not

_**The profitable ones belong to Square Enix**_

_So I thought I had to let you know  
Find someone you can call your own  
Cause now you're walkin' in the danger zone  
And if I touch you I'll be wrong  
If you mess with my man, I'ma be the one to break it to ya…_

_Don't mess with my man – Nivea f. Jagged Edge_

An hour later Jace sat at her desk, looking blearily at her computer screen. She wasn't really seeing it, but she figured just laying her head down and going to sleep on the keyboard would be a bit obvious. Her earlier adrenaline rush had worn off ages ago, and she felt like she had been ridden hard and put away wet. She had downed more than the recommended number of painkillers and currently cradled her fourth cup of tea. People kept wandering slowly by her desk, but Jace lacked the will or the energy to make eye contact. That was probably for the best, since the last thing she wanted was to have to carry on an inane conversation with some office gossip looking for some dirt to spread.

As if the physical pain wasn't enough, she was starting to remember the night before. The drinking, the dirty dancing, the cab ride back to her place and the making of pancakes surfaced slowly, less memories then little fuzzy home movies. Jace watched herself almost set fire to the kitchen trying to cook. She wasn't the one getting her head shaved; it was some other girl who looked like her; some girl who giggled like a maniac the entire time.

As the odd little vignettes of the night played in her private movie theatre, Jace was struck with the realization of just what the hell had happened in the past twenty-four hours. She'd gotten eight shades of drunk and had, in full sight of her gossip loving co-workers, gone home with the Reno and Rude. Somehow, instead of being used as a sex toy, she had been fed pancakes and had her head shaved, then she'd been put to bed naked. This morning she had wheedled a ride out of them and then walked through the main lobby of her workplace in her pajamas with Reno and Rude of the bloody Turks, thus ensuring that the entire company would know or guess that she had spent the night with them and they found her worthy of escort. To top it off, she had attempted to cuddle Rude and gotten into an insult match with Reno in front of her boss, the head of the Turks and Rufus Shinra. Jace groaned and dropped her head to her desk.

"Oh come on," Rourke's jovial voice felt like a punch directly to the brain and Jace slowly lifted her head to shoot him a distinctly unfriendly look. Her supervisor stood next to her desk wearing a slightly smug smile and looking fresh as a daisy. Jace struggled between making a witty comeback and just laying her head back down on the desk while praying for death. Rourke's smile grew as she made the choice and her head slowly descended.

"How did it go last night?" he asked, leaning down so that they were eye to eye. "I see you're still in one piece." His gaze flicked to the hood that still obscured her recently denuded scalp. "Well, more or less. Come on, we're all dying to know…" He made a mock-sympathetic noise as her head slowly connected with the desk. "Well Jace, I'm very curious, but I'll wait until you don't look like death warmed over. I can imagine how last night would push you to your limit. Feel better soon, hon." Jace just moaned and pulled her hood further over her face. _Yep. If Rourke is asking about it, this was definitely the news of the hour. Can ritualistic suicide be done with a stapler?_

An hour later she received a call from Reeve's secretary. Would she be kind enough to join Reeve in his office at her earliest convenience? Jace wondered why the secretary bothered to phrase it as a request. Reeve was probably about to give her the lecture of her life. That was the downside of having a boss who treated his employees not unlike children sometimes… lectures that managed to bore and shame you at the same time. Jacinta had never gotten one individually before, but she'd been there when he came down on her department like a ton of very earnest bricks.

The whole thing was mortifying really. She'd acted like a lunatic in front of some of the most powerful people in the world, and was now being summoned to Reeve's office like a naughty child. _That's only fair_ Jace thought wearily. _Ah well. It isn't like I've never had to play the repentant daughter before. It's sweet, really_. It had been years since she'd had anyone to give her that frown that only fathers and older brothers could manage. A sniffle took Jace by surprise. She covered it up with a cough and pushed back the memories. _Stupid emotions._

She left her desk and headed to the bathroom, intent on splashing her face with some cold water. After drying her face, she looked at herself in the mirror and turned her head from side to side. Bald worked for her, which was a relief. _Nothing like finding out your head looks like a yam with chocobopox after the deed is done_. With a sigh she exited the bathrooms and headed for the elevator.

Less then ten minutes later Jace stood in Reeve's office, swaying slightly. He bet that she was hoping he would just fire her, so she could go home and go back to sleep. Reeve motioned for her to sit down and watched intently as Jace shuffled forward and dropped into the chair in front of his desk, noting her pallor and bleary eyes. _A night with the Turks would do that _he thought wryly. It was a tribute to her stamina that she came to work at all. He had been forced to call in a few mornings back in the days when he had the time and the stomach to drink with Reno and Rude.

Reeve's lips curved upward a bit. This morning's little show had been unexpected. Reeve had been confused, then worried and finally amused. He knew Reno had settled down a lot in the past few years and that the redhead was very interested in Yuffie. Still, Reeve's first reaction was to worry about his employee. Hanging out with the Turks was a bit of dangerous proposition even if they didn't mean you any harm. Turks, Reno especially, attracted trouble and had trouble saying no to another drink, another dare, another chance to play for keeps.

His smile widened as he watched Ms. Guerin sink even further into her chair. She had pulled her hood forward so far that he could only see her mouth and she seemed to be resisting the impulse to just curl up in the chair entirely. He looked down at the file on his desk; he'd had it printed as soon as he'd made it back to his office. Reeve remembered seeing Ms. Guerin at the annual company party and the bi-monthly meetings he had with her department, but he wanted to know a bit more before speaking to her.

Jacinta Guerin. Twenty six years old. Daughter of Meli Cabot and Corbin Guerin, both deceased. Corbin Guerin had been a SOLDIER. Reeve's eyebrow had quirked at that. Ms. Guerin didn't show any signs of Mako or Jenova cell exposure. She must have been conceived before her father entered the SOLDIER program, a bit of a feat considering the fact that SOLDIER recruits had entered the program no later then sixteen. Reeve tucked that bit of information away as being odd but didn't see any reason to mention it now. There were a few more pages in the folder devoted to general employment records and performance reviews, all of which were favorable.

"Ms. Guerin?" Reeve deliberately pitched his voice low. He watched as she slowly straightened and pushed back her hood until she could see him. She focused pained but alert brown eyes on him. "Ms. Guerin," Reeve began. "I try to make sure that every employee of the World Restoration Organization feels that this is a good place to work. I am a firm believer in… what was it you called it? Inter-departmental cooperation. However, I will not stand for anyone to be taken… advantage of in the course of that cooperation. I want to be sure that you have not, at any point, been treated in any way you're uncomfortable with." The last sentence carried the full weight of conviction. Reeve wasn't going to have any employee of his abused if he could prevent it. It might be too late for prevention in this woman's case, but if so he wanted to know now so that he could demand retribution on her behalf. Ms. Guerin sighed but sat up straight. She pushed her hood completely off her head and looked him in the eye.

"Reno and Rude were better behaved then I had any right to expect, sir. They were… well you could say they acted like gentlemen as much as, if not more then I acted a lady. I sincerely hope that you don't think ill of them or of me."

Reeve smiled. "I don't think ill of you at all. I simply wanted to be sure that you were all right. I'm pleased to hear that you had fun with Reno and Rude. They're not completely tame but I like to think of them as friends. All proper behavior aside, I see they still know how to wear a body out. May I congratulate you on making it in this morning?" Reeve rose as he spoke and headed for his window. With a flick of his wrist, window coverings flew open. Ever since the defeat of the Shinentai, there had been an increasing number of sunny days and this morning was one of the brightest. Reeve heard a pained squeak and turned to see that Ms. Guerin had pulled her hood back over her head and was hunching over in her chair.

"I trust," Reeve said, humor clear in his tone, "That you'll restrict these sorts of activities to nights when you have the next day off. You may go, Ms. Guerin." He moved around his office, opening all the blinds and filling the room with bright light, keeping one eye on the groaning figure in the chair. He half wondered if she would crawl under his desk.

Finally Ms. Guerin nodded as she slowly rose. She shuffled to the door, paused in front of it and slowly turned.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?"

_Was that a trace of amusement in her voice?_ Reeve hoped so; he did like a good sport. "Go ahead Ms. Guerin."

"You're the devil incarnate, sir."

"I'm flattered that you think so, Ms. Guerin."

Another nod and Ms. Guerin opened his office door and escaped into the outer office. Before the door closed behind her, he heard another pained squeak. Reeve grinned widely. He'd told his secretary to open the shades in the front office only after Ms. Guerin had arrived for their meeting. Reeve went back to his desk feeling better about the day.

Jace headed back to her desk at a pace that could best be described as glacial. The meeting with Reeve had gone better than expected, in that she still had a job and her hunch that Reeve had been angry for her and not at her had been confirmed. On the other hand, Reeve's decision to teach her a lesson had led to the vicious resurgence of her headache… but that was her own fault. Reeve was definitely the fatherly type. He'd made sure she would remember his message without doing any lasting damage. Jace couldn't help but like him.

In the fullness of time she made it back to her work area, and grabbed her mug off her desk, intent on making yet another cup of tea and then hiding for the rest of the day. She turned and found herself facing a cold faced young Wutain woman. Jace blinked and then her eyes widened in recognition. So this was Yuffie Kisaragi, heir to Wutai, savior of the planet, ninja and Reno's long standing love interest.

The two women sized each other up. Jace couldn't be sure what Ms. Kisaragi was seeing, but Jace saw a rather pretty young woman who probably looked much better when she smiled. She had seen Ms. Kisaragi before; after all, the ninja worked for the intelligence department of the W.R.O. Still, it was a bit of a shock to be standing not a foot away from the legend herself. Jace had somehow thought the other woman would be taller but in fact, she had a good six inches on her. _Not that that will help if she comes after me,_ Jace thought wryly. _Even if I wasn't hung over, tired and out of practice she could still beat me eight ways from Sunday_.

The very thought of the pounding Yuffie could deliver caused Jace's headache to flare and her stomach to roil. She sighed and slowly moved around Yuffie, hoping to get another cuppa made before she was mercilessly destroyed. Without looking back, she knew that Yuffie was following her. Jace headed into the break room, prepared a cup of tea and put it in the microwave. She turned to face Yuffie, who was leaning against the opposite counter with her arms crossed.

"Tea?" Jace asked calmly. _No use not being polite_. Yuffie shook her head slowly. The ninja appeared much less hostile now; in fact, her expression could best be described as contemplative. Jace was glad for that much at least. Maybe she'd get out of this without broken ribs. The gossip mill must have worked over time to bring the news of this morning's entrance to Yuffie in the worst light possible, so she decided on the direct approach.

"I didn't sleep with Reno."

Yuffie seemed to consider this. Finally she nodded and responded with a short query. "Rude?"

"Nope."

Yuffie nodded again. The microwave dinged and Jace retrieved her tea. The ninja's next question was delivered in an eminently civil tone.

"Not even once?"

Jace's response was less polished but very sincere. "Nope."

"No other activities?"

"Nothing sexual. My memory's pretty much returned and I don't remember even getting to first base. He kept talking about how much he loved the color purple." Jace took a sip of her tea and fished in her pocket for the painkillers she'd grabbed that morning. She located them and tossed them down. When she glanced at Yuffie the other woman's face was still fairly calm but her lavender eyes sparked. Jace smiled a little, and cautiously relaxed. Her tongue chose that moment to slip its leash. "Yeah, the furthest we got was braiding each other's hair in our underwear. You know, back when I had hair." Jace almost dropped her cup. _Had that come out of her mouth? Stupid lack of filters when hung-over!_ Jace winced as Yuffie's face hardened.

"Underwear?" Who knew such a short cute girl could sound so stone cold nasty? Jace scrambled to rectify the situation.

"Not like you're thinking… Look, we were three drunks in an apartment with no air conditioning during a Midgar summer. We'd had the stove on for a while too because we were making pancakes and maybe the oven as well…" Now that Jace was thinking about it, she faintly remembered turning on the oven to make cookies. _Huh, hope someone did something about that_… "Anyway, that's how I ended up bald. I was hot even in my underwear and I thought it would be cooler if I didn't have any hair… I'm surprised all three of us stayed in the bathroom long enough to get my head shaved. It was way too hot to touch anyone for an extended period of time and my bathroom isn't exactly spacious. Reno nearly took a header into my tub." Jace watched Yuffie closely and was surprised to see a slow smile bloom on the ninja's face. _She was amused. Oh thank the Planet, Yuffie believed her_. She released a relieved sigh and took another sip of tea.

"Soooo…" Yuffie seemed a much more approachable now. "Are you… interested?"

Jace grinned. "In shaving him bald."

Yuffie exhaled lightly and smiled again. "That won't work for Rude."

"I'll get creative." Jace wasn't entirely sure that she would be able to come up with a good enough payback for Reno and Rude but she was certainly going to try.

"Well, if you need some ideas," Yuffie said as she pushed away from the counter. "You let me know. I'd be happy to help." The two shared a look of understanding. Jace sighed again with relief as the petite ninja headed for the door. Yuffie paused and turned back to look at Jace. "On second thought, don't mess with the hair."

Jace made a small salute and Yuffie sauntered off. _Ah yes_, she thought, _détente is a beautiful thing_…

In the next few months Jace found herself dealing with a sudden social life. Her co-workers hadn't really paid attention to her before, but now that she had hung out with Turks she was a hot property. Invitations to parties rolled in and Jace decided to use the opportunity to get out more. She'd been hiding too long behind stacks of paper and a quiet demeanor. The night with Reno and Rude reminded her of some of the more amusing escapades from her past. Jace never again got as drunk as she had with the Turks, but she otherwise she enjoyed herself to the fullest. She didn't know it, but after the first few invitations were extended out of curiosity, she was invited because she was genuinely becoming popular in her own right.

**_I have a prank in mind for poor Reno but nothing for Rude. Suggestions would be very much appreciated. For the record the prank chosen wouldn't be in the next chapter but it would be used. Actually if I get several good ideas I'll write in several pranks. Please review!_**


	6. Movies

**_The profitable ones belong to Square Enix_**

****

_It's so much better when everyone is in_

_Are you in?_

_Are you in? - Incubus_

"Ok, looks like I accidentally bought black licorice. Anyone want it?"

Only one hand went up in response to Yuffie's question. She blinked. "Vincent?" she asked wonderingly. Jace, Reno, Reeve and Rude turned to look at the gunman who was slowly letting his hand drop. He met their surprised looks with his usual enigmatic expression and a shrug. Tifa, the only person who had seen Vincent go to town on a bag of the bitter candy just smiled and resumed mixing drinks. After a moment or two, Reno broke the silence with a muttered "You think you know someone…" and then joined the others in the pleasant task of getting comfy in front of Rude's TV. Even though Bad Movie Nights were Yuffie's baby, the past couple of gatherings had taken place at Rude's apartment. Yuffie had a tiny place to begin with and it was packed with various mementoes, weapons, books and just plain junk. No one had dared to bring it up after Reno had called her the 'Packrat Princess' and lived to regret it. In addition to that she only had a 26 inch TV, meaning her guests had to cluster together on or in front of her two-seater loveseat and peer intently at the screen.

After a couple of uncomfortable nights spent trying to see around Cloud's hair, Reno decided his partner's place was the perfect place to host this little film orgy. Rude had a state-of-the-art system complete with true surround sound and a screen so big Reno joked it was stolen from a movie theatre. It was simplicity itself to bend Rude to his will. Reno just let it slip that Yuffie had said she might stop hosting movie night because of the lack of space.

"You have to admit man, we're packed in like sardines without the oil," Reno had drawled one day over lunch, watching his partner closely under the cover of checking out the women at the table behind them. "I didn't know they even made TV's that small anymore. I asked Yuff why she didn't just buy a bigger one and she gave me one of those woman looks. You know, the 'why are you so dumb, oh yeah, it's because you're a boy' looks. I worked past it though and managed to get it across to her that watching the back of somebody's skull wasn't doing it for me, doubly not when chocobo head is in town. She said she'd bring the movies and the snacks if we could do it somewhere else." He paused, making sure he had Rude's attention before continuing with his covert campaign. "The _where_ of where else is going to be a problem though. You've got that awesome setup, but I know how you are about keeping the place neat. My TV is a decent size, but to be honest, the place isn't much cleaner then Yuffie's so that's not an option. Can't do it at Seventh Heaven because we'd keep the kids up. Reeve doesn't own a TV and I'm pretty sure Vincent Vampire just hangs upside down in cave somewhere." Reno shuddered for effect. "I don't think I'd go to his place even if he was offering. But anyway, that leaves Jace, and from what I remember she doesn't have a much bigger TV then the Yuffster." Rude had stopped chewing and was eyeing him over his shades. Reno mentally rubbed his hands together. _Now for the hook_… "It's kinda annoying having to give the whole thing up yo, I really liked it. You know me, I love a bad movie. Besides, it was kinda cool to see everyone without being shot at or trying to save the world."

Rude shot him a look. Reno just smiled. _Come on man, you don't see Tifa anywhere else on anything even approaching a regular basis. You know what I'm doing, but I know what you want… Come on, take the bait_… Rude's lips tightened for a moment and then he sighed and pushed up his glasses. "I'll talk to Yuffie," he said quietly.

Reno smiled even wider, all white teeth and smug pleasure at getting his way. "I already took care of it, partner." He refocused on his sandwich, ignoring Rude's exasperated sigh. _Poor Rude. He's a sucker for that girl. Eh, at least he knows it._ Reno's smugness decreased a bit when it occurred to him that he was hardly in a position to talk considering his behavior around Yuffie. _Women. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. There's somethin' irresistible-ish about 'em… Argh, now I'm rhyming in my head, not mention talking to myself. I hate you, hormones_…

From then on, instead of cramming themselves onto Yuffie's loveseat or fighting her stuff for floor space the participants in Bad Movie Night relaxed on Rude's high quality suede couches, sank their feet into his plush carpet and experienced what had to be the one of the most impressive entertainment centers they had ever seen. Tonight Jace was seated in her usual spot in her usual style, namely on couch between Rude and Reeve, margarita in one hand and a handful of popcorn in the other. She really enjoyed these nights, something she hadn't been sure would be true the first time Yuffie had invited her.

Jace had arrived at Yuffie's apartment that first night feeling nervous and not entirely sure this was good idea. True, she had spent time with Reno and Rude, drinking and occasionally trading good natured insults. She'd also gotten to know Yuffie as they plotted their as-yet unrealized revenge against their favorite Turks. She wasn't sure however that any of that prepared her for a night spent with most of AVALANCHE. Sure she'd heard of the team that saved the world several times and heard stories from Reno and Yuffie but that didn't allay her worry. Just because Yuffie liked her was no guarantee that anyone else would. Jace was quite relieved when Yuffie grabbed her hand two minutes after she walked in the door and dragged her off saying something about 'the grand tour'. The 'tour' turned out to be Yuffie pulling Jace down the hallway and vaguely gesturing to the bedroom as they passed. Yuffie tugged Jace into the bathroom, shut the door and hopped up on the counter next to the sink. Jace leaned her back against the door and raised an eyebrow at the other girl.

"You had that chocobo in headlights expression," Yuffie said flashing a wide grin. "I thought I'd better give you a quick who's who so you know how to deal. Where to start… Let's see… Hi, I'm Yuffie!" Yuffie offered her hand to Jace who grinned and shook it. "I'm a ninja and my father is Lord of Wutai. I work for the intelligence department of the W.R.O. You know Reno and Rude… Next up, is Vincent. He used to be a Turk until Hojo got a hold of him… You know who Hojo was right? Good. So he's broody and never takes off his cloak but he's a good guy. Not big on the physical contact just so you know, not that I expect you to run around fondling people. Not before your third drink anyway. Then there's Tifa, she's really nice, really easy to talk to. You'll like her, everybody does, especially Rude. Man I hope tonight…" Yuffie paused for a moment and frowned at a hand towel. Then her face cleared and she launched back into her litany. "Reeve's not here yet but you know him anyway… Last and spikiest is Cloud. He's quiet but not as much as he used to be… Man it used to be like pulling teeth to get him to freaking talk! You won't see him much; he spends a lot of time in Corel working with Barrett… You have no idea how much it took to get him to promise to come down for this. I said to him 'Cloudy, you've been promising to come to one of these and you haven't yet' and he just started going on about how they found all this oil out there and Barrett's really excited. You'd like Barrett; he's a big softie really… Anyway, I said 'Cloudy you owe me' and he said…"

Jace blinked as she tried to keep up with the sudden tangent. She'd had a question but she was going to lose it if the other girl kept rambling. "Whoa," Jace said, interrupting Yuffie in mid sentence. It seemed the only way to get a word in edgewise. "What do you mean 'I hope tonight'? Hope tonight what?" Yuffie sighed before replying. "Cloud and Tifa grew up together. They went through a lot and when they finally hooked up it was like 'about time'! But it turns out that they're a lot better as friends then as a couple so they called it quits. It was all amicable though and Cloud still stays with Tif when he's not in Corel. But anyway, you would think that Rude would move right in right? Because he should, he's had the mad hots for Tifa since time began, even back when we were all trying to kill each other. I always knew something was up; he'd do everything he could to avoid fighting her. That's so cute, don't you think?" Yuffie paused for Jace's enthusiastic nod and then continued. "Everybody's waiting for him to make his move… well everybody 'cept Tif because she isn't the sharpest when it comes to romance and Cloud cause he's just not the observant type when it comes to women and he's in Corel most of the time anyway… Where was I? Oh yeah, Rude's procrastinating self. I know he knows they're not still together but he still isn't doing anything about it. I think I'm going to have to talk to Tifa…"

Jace jumped when someone started pounding on the door. "Oh ladies," Reno yelled through the door, "Sorry to bust in on your little bonding session but some of us would like to get started before the midnight. That and Cloud has been out here doing the pee-pee dance… Ow! Ow! Stop hitting me you blond bastard, that shit hurts!" Yuffie sighed. "Boys are silly." She said gravely. Jace nodded. "Very much so."

Reno and Cloud continued to snipe at each other as everyone settled down to watch the movie much to everyone else's amusement. Yuffie's little dissertation had, in fact, made Jace feel much more comfortable. She still found Vincent a bit creepy what with the tattered cape and the red eyes but other then a nagging desire to protect her neck Jace wasn't worried. She had a very good time until Reeve arrived late and took the only space available which happened to be right next to her. Noticing her discomfort he wasted no time in reminding her that work was work and not work was not work and "never the twain shall discuss the other." He'd delivered that bit of questionable grammar while stealing some of her popcorn. By the end of the night she was relaxed enough to slap his hand when he went after her last candy bar.

Three months and six or so movie nights later the seating arrangement was a settled thing, modified only slightly by the change of venue. Reeve sat on the couch in the spot nearest the door since he often left early or arrived late. Jace sat to his left and Rude sat on her other side. Reno sat on the floor a little to the right of Reeve, and Yuffie sat six inches or so to the left of that. Tifa sat next to Yuffie, just a little to the left of Rude. Vincent sat in the overstuffed chair near the couch, ever the loner. Rude pushed the play button, Reno doused the lights and the seven of them settled in for "Teenage Ghoul Girl A Go-go".

About halfway through the extremely bad sex scene near what Jace sincerely hoped was the end of the movie, the margaritas caught up with her and she headed to the bathroom, laughing at Reeve and Reno's cries of 'down in front!' When she returned a few minutes later, the horrifying sex scene had somehow morphed a horrifying song and dance number. She once again braved the journey in front of the TV and resumed her seat then looked around hopefully for the popcorn bowl. Her eyes fastened on Yuffie, or as Jace liked to call her, 'She Who Hogs The Popcorn'. The princess was laughing at the screen in between crunchy handfuls. Suddenly, she jumped a little and shot the person sitting to her right a dirty look. Reno grinned manically at the disgruntled princess and grabbed a handful of popcorn before turning back to the screen. Yuffie continued to glare at him for a moment, and then refocused on the movie. As soon as she stopped paying attention, Reno's head briefly turned back towards her. He looked back at the screen, but scooted over until he was flush with Yuffie's side, deftly avoiding Reeve's feet. The princess said nothing, only leaning into the Turk a bit. Jace smiled and looked at Reeve. He too, had been watching. They smirked at each other, and Reeve motioned for her to look down and to her left. Lo and behold, Tifa had started using Rude's knee as a pillow. Jace risked a surreptitious glance at the bald man's face. His expression was as stoic as ever, but he was barely breathing. Jace looked back at Reeve, who grinned widely and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Inter departmental cooperation." Snickering quietly, they went back to watching the on-screen antics.

**_A/N: Many thanks to 'The Muppet Movie' for Reno's rhyming thoughts. There is actually a movie called "Teenage Ghoul Girls A Go-go and it is awful in ways that cannot be adequately described by the human tongue. Please review!_**


	7. Fortune's fool

_**The profitable ones belong to Square Enix**_

_Help, I need somebody,  
Help, not just anybody,  
Help, you know I need someone, help..._

_Help – The Beatles _

_The next day_…

Rufus didn't bother looking up as the door to his office opened and closed. "Just lay the reports on my desk, James. In the future, I expect you to be on time." A moment later, Rufus looked up to see a familiar, although rather unexpected, hand lay the requested files on the edge of his desk. _Wait a minute_… "Tseng, where is Mr. Emerson this morning?" Rufus eyed his second in command standing in front of his desk.

Tseng paused a moment and then said calmly, "Truck."

Rufus blinked. "Truck?"

Tseng nodded. "Apparently, sir, he was distracted while attempting to cross the street and failed to note the flow of traffic had changed. They're fitting him for a full body cast right now." Rufus raised an eyebrow. Tseng answered his silent query. "He was crying again, sir. It seems his dog ran away this morning."

Rufus leaned back in his chair, fighting a groan. He heard something that sounded suspiciously like a muted chuckle from Tseng's direction, but by the time his eyes swung to the Wutain, Tseng had his impassive façade firmly in place once again. Rufus was impressed, honestly, that the other man didn't just go ahead and laugh at him. After all, this was the latest round in what had to be the most annoying running joke Rufus had ever had the misfortune to have heard, of much less be involved in. The sad truth of it was that he couldn't keep a secretary; hadn't been able to since he had taken over after his father's impalement. Rufus sighed. "Why now, Tseng? I had just gotten used to the crying. I could _work_ with the crying."

Tseng shook his head and his lips curved slightly. He gracefully sank into one of the chairs positioned in front of Rufus's desk. "I believe it's _because_ you had come to terms with the crying."

Rufus sighed. "So you agree with Reeve that I'm cursed?"

Tseng nodded. "In this particular instance I think he may have a point, sir. Ever since Missy, you seem to have been strangely unlucky in terms of personal secretaries."

Rufus shuddered as he remembered Missy, the woman he privately thought of 'the calamity from the personnel department'. He had arrived at his father's office the day after he officially became president, Tseng in tow, ready to assume the mantle of power. Missy had seemed normal at first; that is to say, she was dressed in tight, but not completely inappropriate clothing. Rufus hadn't thought anything of it when she came in at 8:45 that morning, holding a file and a cup of coffee. She was no doubt expecting to continue his father's schedule. He was intent on instituting his own schedule, of course, and planned to tell her after she set down the coffee.

It was with some confusion, but no fear, that he watched her set down the file and coffee on the edge of the desk closest to the door. She continued moving until she was standing directly in front of him. Missy wasn't a threat; there was nowhere on that outfit to hide a weapon and Tseng would have a bullet in her brain before she could bruise him. Rufus looked up at her and opened his mouth to ask her what the hell she thought she was doing. Next he knew she was on her knees and her hands were going for the zipper on his pants. Rufus could do nothing but stare at the top of her head in a kind of horrified disbelief.

A second later Tseng grabbed Missy around the waist, and literally carried the confused-looking woman out of the room. When he returned ten minutes later, he was as unruffled as ever. "I informed her that her services were no longer required. Rude is currently escorting her from the premises." The bodyguard's voice was extremely calm as he moved toward his former place behind and to the right of Rufus. "I've already informed personnel that you are in need of a new secretary." Rufus nodded and allowed himself a small shudder. _As if he would go where his father had gone before him_…

That was the end of Missy the Mistress; next up was Miry the Hypochondriac. Rufus looked at Tseng. "Remember Miry?"

Tseng made a face. "I still can't stomach the combined scents of chocobo noodle soup, disinfectant and orange juice, sir. I'm impressed you managed not to notice for as long as you did."

Rufus gave him an arch look. "She only lasted four days. She was gone the moment she decided to spray Reno down with disinfectant. I'm not saying he didn't need it, but honestly she was lucky I fired her instead letting him handle it."

Tseng nodded and smirked at the memory. It had taken both he and Rude to hold the redhead back from placing Miry's bottle of bleach someplace highly inappropriate. "I was impressed with your mercy sir."

Rufus nodded and then continued. "After Miry they sent Ivy."

"The one who ate gold fish crackers for forty-five minutes out of every hour sir?"

"Right. Next up was Cassia, the one who insisted on calling me 'Ruffy', closely followed by Lara, who believed that the office was the appropriate place to cut and eat her toe nails. She was followed by Rissa who wouldn't stop eating…"

Tseng smiled. "I was surprised how long it took you to order us to look into the seeming betrayal of the personnel department and how easy it was to discern the fact that all placement paperwork sooner or later found itself going across the desk of Bitsy, Missy sister. I'll admit sir, to this day I'm impressed by the woman's loyalty. To risk the wrath of Rufus Shinra in some mad attempt to make her sister look good… that's dedication."

Rufus smiled. "May I thank you again for your dedication, Tseng? She was beautifully handled and the coup de grace was quite amusing."

Tseng shook his head. "The credit for the coup de grace belongs to Reno, remember? I only fired her and destroyed her credit rating after firebombing her car and home. Reno was the one who shaved her, her cat and Missy bald." Rufus chuckled as he thought back fondly on the photos Reno had so kindly provided afterwards. "WEAPON attacked right after that," Tseng continued, "and then of course there was that period of readjustment." Rufus raised an eyebrow but let the understatement slide. Tseng went on as if he hadn't noticed the other man's reaction. "The next one was Steven…"

"No," Rufus said, anticipating the look on his subordinate's face, "the next one was Charles."

Tseng did not disappoint. His lip curled and his eyes narrowed as he spat out the hated man's name. "Charles. How could I forget?"

Rufus laughed. "How indeed, Tseng? After all, Charles was so… memorable." The man had been handsome, well spoken, thoughtful, attentive and a snappy dresser not to mention the talent with which he performed his job. "Charles got on with everyone, Elena in particular…" Rufus paused to gleefully observe Tseng's increasingly harsh countenance. Tseng hadn't minded Charles at all until the idiot had started hitting on Elena. Adding insult to injury, Elena had been amenable to those advances. "Pity about what happened to him," Rufus said nonchalantly. "He was truly enjoyable as an employee but he was never the same after that mugging. It's almost painful to think about what they did to him. Broken legs, a dislocated shoulder and clavicle, broken ribs and a collapsed lung, to say nothing of the work they did on his face…"

"I believe the doctors had to wire his jaw shut sir. Also, don't forget his broken fingers and toes."

"I had forgotten. You have quite the head for details, Tseng. Odd wasn't it, that we never caught the assailants?"

"One of life's mysteries sir."

"Quite. I was disappointed, but not surprised when he refused to return to the office, although his decision to convalesce in and eventually remain in Junon was something of a surprise. Wasn't that about the time that you and Elena began your seeing each other?"

Tseng, to his credit, didn't bat an eyelash. "We began dating about a two weeks later sir."

Rufus nodded sagely. "Where was I? Oh yes, after Charles was Steven. He lasted a whole six months before we found out that he was living as man and wife with a chocobo…" Rufus paused as both he and Tseng shuddered.

Tseng took over from there. "Astrid who kept rabbits, which you are allergic to, Clay the needy stalker, Gunter who sold items you had touched to Clay…" Another pause for another shudder and the dark haired man continued. "After which you suggested Elena and were able to observe her more unfortunate traits in close quarters. Elena is a paperwork virtuoso but she can talk someone's ear off when she's bored and sometimes has the subtly of a stampeding herd of chocobos."

"That has always confused me about her. I've seen her perform flawlessly under extreme circumstances but you're right, sometimes she starts and she just won't stop. Some clients started sending me letters to avoid calling the office. How do you deal with it anyway?"

"I call it 'selective listening' sir. I think she may be catching on though…"

"Good luck with that. We tried Rude next and he wasn't much better. He barely spoke even when it was necessary and intimidated anyone who came into the office by size alone. I didn't even bother with Reno and you're too valuable elsewhere. I think we picked out Marcus by letting Reno throw a dart at the newspaper. There were five blissful months of normality before he started asking me if I was worried about my immortal soul and would I please wear this crystal to block the negative vibrations from the fax machine. That brings us to the latest in line, James. The man seems to be living a country song. When he was hired all was normal but that couldn't last could it? Oh no! In the last four months his wife left him for his best friend, his father shot his mother and her lover in a jealous rage resulting in his father going to jail, and his daughter ran off with some ne'er do well from the south forty. The man cried like a baby on a regular basis and who could blame him!"

Too agitated to sit any longer Rufus stood up and began pacing, his voice rising with each step. "But I stuck with him! I invested in tissues and persevered. But I should have seen this morning's events coming. For the love of the Planet, who runs off with someone from the south forty? What the hell is a south forty anyway? Of course the dog ran away, it was probably finally scared off the by the murder of crows that no doubt alighted on the building the day I hired him!"

Tseng wasn't sure whether to laugh or make a sympathetic noise as he watched Rufus lapse into dark mutters as he continued to pace. "You know, sir," Tseng ventured. "You could always just attempt to do without a personal secretary." Rufus whirled toward him with a maniacal gleam in his eye. "But then _they_ win Tseng!" Tseng just stared and wondered if he should perhaps make for the door before Rufus became violent in his insanity. The stress of surviving and rebuilding in the past few years combined with the secretary fiasco had apparently pushed his cool-as-ice boss past his limits. He watched as the younger man calmed down, trudged back to his chair and sat heavily before releasing a deep sigh. "Besides Tseng, I really can't be expected to perform the duties of that position and fulfill my own, not to mention how it would look if Rufus Shinra didn't have a personal secretary. These things affect how others perceive both me and the company. You know the value of appearances..."

A bit of the crazed look came back into Rufus's eyes and he began to smile far more widely then Tseng was completely comfortable with. "Tseng, what is the name of that woman that Reno and Rude spent the night with a few months ago? The one they shaved bald?"

Tseng frowned but answered readily enough. "Her name is Jacinta Guerin. She's employed in the records department at the W.R.O. Why do you ask, sir?" Tseng watched as Rufus picked up his phone and dialed quickly. He hadn't paid too much attention to the girl that day other to look her over quickly to make sure she wasn't a threat and hadn't been treated too roughly by his Turks. The last thing he needed to deal with would be some teary W.R.O. employee telling the tabloids of her debauchment at the hands of the Turks. Tseng had been quietly relieved when Reeve called a few hours later in the day to assure him that Ms. Guerin was none the worse for wear, other then her hangover, and had no intention of scurrying off to the gossip magazines. He'd made a mental note of her name and department just in case, but other then Reno and Rude's punishments, let the matter lie. It was possible that Reno had mentioned her again, but if so, it was only in passing, no doubt because even Reno wasn't thick enough to bring that incident up again.

Tseng watched warily as Rufus asked for Reeve and then waited patiently to be connected. He quirked an eyebrow at that. Rufus had Reeve's direct office number as well as his PHS number and had never hesitated to use them to Reeve's occasional chagrin. The only reason Rufus would bother calling the secretary would be because he was making an effort to be polite… _oh dear_. _'Rufus polite' was generally 'Rufus after something'_. Tseng listened with a growing sense of trepidation as Rufus spoke to Reeve, using what Tseng privately referred to as the younger man's 'come into my parlor' voice. Rufus requested in his smoothest tones if Reeve would be kind enough to lend Rufus an employee to fill in as a secretary until Rufus could find a permanent one. Rufus then held the phone away from his ear, his lips tight. Tseng could make out Reeve's laughter quite clearly. The former head of Urban Development was well aware of Rufus's secretary troubles both at the old Shinra and beyond.

After a minute or two the laughter died down, and Rufus smiled again. _Reeve must have acquiesced._ A moment later Rufus shot a pleased glance at Tseng as he voiced his pick for temporary help. "Thank you for the suggestion. I'm sure he's top notch, but I already have someone in mind… You remember Ms. Guerin, correct? Good. Tseng will be by to pick up Miss Guerin within the hour." Pause. "Yes, she's the one I want; I've made up my mind."

There was another, longer pause during which Tseng would swear he could occasionally hear Reeve yelling. Rufus waited calmly for silence and then began again. "I don't have any nefarious plans, Reeve, I'm a new man… Yes, well, new enough. Besides, I'm only borrowing her services…" The yelling began again, this time at greater volume. Rufus sighed and pressed on. "No I don't mean it that way. I'm just borrowing her in order to keep things going smoothly here. I'll no doubt have someone new in the position within a couple of weeks, but I'd rather avoid a gap if possible. She'll remain a W.R.O. employee; I'll give her a generous bonus and donate the same amount to the charity of her choice. In addition to that I'll donate double both amounts to the W.R.O. Fair enough? Yes of course, she's free to leave if she feels in uncomfortable in any way at all… Please do ask her first, I'd like her to feel like she has a say in the matter. If I don't hear from you in the next hour I'll send Tseng to pick her up… Thank you Reeve… Yes, I'm aware that I owe you… Yes. Goodbye."

Rufus hung up and leaned back once more, radiating satisfaction. Tseng shook his head slightly. "Why sir?" he asked slowly. "You don't know anything about her, other than that she has the stamina to survive Reno and Rude, and honestly, I don't know if that can be considered a recommendation. It certainly gives no indication that she would bring anything to the position other then that endurance." Tseng sensed that he had mis-stepped there. If there was one thing Rufus might be attracted to right now it was the promise of a secretary with staying power. He tried another tack. "There is also the question of how much time it would take to train her. I'm sure Reeve could suggest someone more… immediately suitable…"

Rufus chuckled, cutting Tseng off. "That's just it. Everyone prior to this girl has looked perfect. They all interviewed well, they all acted sane at first. I'm simply turning the formula on its head by recruiting someone who is obviously inappropriate!" Rufus laughed again. Tseng would swear he heard a slight tinge of madness in that laughter and he took that as his cue to leave. He nodded at Rufus as he stood and headed for the door. "Oh, Tseng?"

_Damn_, the older man thought, _almost made it out the door_… "Yes sir?" He swung around to regard his boss and was pleased to see that Rufus seemed have returned to his normally placid self.

"Don't let Reeve talk her out of it." Tseng nodded again and exited Rufus's office.

_**Please review! You know you want to! K, maybe you don't. But you should!**_


	8. Sure, why not?

**_All the profitable ones belong to Square Enix. _**

**_Sorry about the delay. The next few chapters should come faster.  
_**

* * *

****_I must believe …  
…I can be anyone  
I can step beyond  
All of my boundaries  
It won't be hard for me_

_Use the Force - Jamiroquai  
_

* * *

Less then an hour and a half later, Jace found herself in a car with Tseng headed toward Rufus Shinra's office. She smoothed down her skirt, thinking for probably the fifth time in as many minutes that she was very glad she'd put a bit of thought into her outfit today. She'd had no clue that this day of all days would be anything special, but she'd woken up in a good mood and had dressed to reflect that. The clothes were nothing special, just a flattering zip up blouse and a blue, knee length a-line skirt she'd owned for eons, but they were scads better then her usual thrown-together look that consisted of whatever was clean.

Jace snuck yet another glance at Tseng. The man seemed the epitome of cool competence. She sincerely hoped that Rufus hadn't somehow decided that she was anything like the head of the Turks. Then again, how could he, considering the circumstances under which they had met? Jace sighed and turned her thoughts to the sudden change in her fortunes. She was being loaned to Rufus Shinra as a personal favor. She felt a bit like a parcel, even though Reeve had made it abundantly clear that she was in no way obligated to take the assignment.

Reeve had called Jace into his office, introduced her to Tseng, asked her to sit down and told her that Rufus Shinra wished to borrow her to be his personal secretary, and in the same sentence had reinforced that she could easily say no, with the strong implication that she should. Jace had simply sat in shock, only faintly aware of Reeve's worried expression.

Tseng's smooth tones broke the silence. "Mr. Shinra is offering a generous bonus in addition to your regular salary as compensation for your time. He has also offered to make a donation to the charity of your choice. It's a very good offer, considering how little time would likely be required."

Jace stared blankly ahead for a moment, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that for some incomprehensible reason Rufus Shinra wanted her anywhere near in him in any capacity at all. "Doesn't he remember who I am?" she asked in a small voice.

"He does indeed. That was why he requested you specifically." Tseng replied, causing Jace to wince. _That was supposed to be inner dialogue… Oh well_. She lapsed back into thought. Try as she might, she couldn't remember anything about her performance in the elevator that would inspire someone to hire her. _Maybe he thought I was cute? No, that couldn't be it. Even if he had found something attractive about a bald woman in fuzzy sleepers trading insults with one of his employees, the whole thing had happened months ago._ Jace frowned, unable to come up with any sort of logical reason for this. Since thinking wasn't working, she just checked with her instincts. They came back with a resounding _'Sure, why not?'_

Tseng and Reeve watched as she shrugged. Both men accurately guessed her answer and responded accordingly; Tseng with a quietly pleased expression, and Reeve with a frowning attempt to dissuade her.

"Keep in mind, Jacinta, that you are in no way obligated to accept this assignment. Mr. Shinra asked me for a favor, but I am your boss, not your keeper and if you are uncomfortable with this _at all_ I urge you to let this one go. Honestly, Mr. Shinra has a very bad track record with personal secretaries. Every single one he's had since taking over for his father has been manifestly odd in some way…" Reeve caught Jacinta's raised eyebrow and hurried to explain. "I'm not saying _you're_ odd Jacinta, I'm saying that it's odd that he's had such a streak of horrible luck when it comes to secretarial help. Being a personal secretary can involve a lot of one on one time with your boss and I can't help but wonder if there's something about him that…"

"Drives people insane?" Tseng interrupted calmly, a small smile on his face. "As I'm sure you're aware Reeve, Rufus can be difficult but he's not contagious. I've worked with him for years…"

"Whoever said you were sane?" Reeve interjected. Tseng smiled a little wider and opened his mouth, no doubt intent on returning the insult.

"Excuse me, sirs," Jace's voice was soft but firm. "I'll do it. It's a great opportunity." She smirked. "I don't think Mr. Shinra is going to dredge up some heretofore unknown streak of craziness on my part, so I don't think there will be a problem. Besides, it's only for a week or two, right? Come on, it's not like I'm going to get hit by a truck or anything right?" Jace looked inquiringly at her boss while Tseng silently thanked the gods that Rufus hadn't told Reeve exactly how he came to be in the market for a new secretary.

Jace batted her eyelashes at her boss until he sighed and nodded slightly, at which point she rewarded him with a wide grin. _I do so love it when I get my way_. Honestly, once she'd made up her mind, there wasn't a lot Reeve was going to be able to do to change it. The last few months of being out and about had reminded her how much she liked to head into new situations and trust her luck. She sat back, waiting for Reeve to launch into a speech about the potential problems she would face, but instead of going through an extensive list of worries as she expected him to, Reeve just shot her an almost pitying look. His expression changed to one of distinct dislike when he swung to Tseng.

"I want her back in two weeks _or less,_ Tseng." Jace was surprised to hear just how chilly Reeve's voice could be. Her boss wasn't willing to call himself her keeper, but he seemed perfectly willing to act like one.

Tseng, however, was perfectly unruffled. He merely nodded. "I will endeavor to make sure that Ms. Guerin enjoys her time with us," was all he said. Tseng then motioned for Jacinta to rise. Jace and Reeve both stood up at the same time, and the three of them walked toward the door. Jace expected Reeve to stop there, but he continued with them into the elevator. Jace wasn't entirely sure why, since neither man said a word. Tseng resembled a very attractive statue and Reeve glowered at the floor buttons. _What the hell's going on?_

Reeve followed Jace and her escort all the way out to Tseng's car, where he proceeded to open the door and hand her into the seat. "Remember Jacinta," he said, bending over so they were eye to eye. "You are a W.R.O. employee and you can return here at any time should you need to." Jace nodded and watched as he straightened and looked over the car at Tseng. "Two weeks" he stated tersely, before closing Jacinta's door and heading back into the building. Tseng slid into the car a moment later. Silence reigned as he started the engine and smoothly pulled out of the parking garage.

So here they were, headed for Rufus Shinra's office. Jace stared out the window. _Stupid reckless streak_. Reeve's worried expression had been dancing around in her head for the last two or three minutes. Suddenly, this seemed less like an adventure and more like she was being delivered to her doom. She just barely resisted the urge to groan out loud. For some incomprehensible reason she had blithely ignored red flags the size of Meteor and signed on to work for a notorious control freak/perfectionist/former robber baron. _Why oh why did I volunteer to be meat for the beast?_

'_Because the whole situation is dangerous and you like to push your luck.'_ her inner voice answered smugly. _'Oh, and then there's that weakness you have for jerks and rumor has it Rufus Shinra is the granddaddy of 'em all…'_

Jace frowned. _Quiet, you!_ she thought sternly. _It's a great opportunity to… um… it'll look great on a resume!_

'_Right,'_ the voice rejoined. _'You let yourself be whisked away from your nice safe job by a paid assassin… and he is still a paid assassin even if he's masquerading as Mr. Shinra's VP… This was in spite of being informed of the unlucky bastards who came before you. I'm sure it's all just been a 'misunderstanding' of some sort... Sure. Face it, the common factor in all his failed relationships is **him** so he's either cursed, or he drove his previous secretaries crazy. Option two seems likely considering the fact that Rufus Shinra is known to be an obsessive workaholic with a less-than- stellar record when it comes to good behavior. What the hell do you think is going to happen?'_

"Something interesting," Jace said softly, smiling slightly.

"Excuse me, did you say something?" Tseng's quiet inquiry wiped the half smile right off her face. She looked up at him quickly, shaking her head.

"No, nothing. Sorry." _Mental note: work on not saying the quiet part loud_…

Tseng blinked slowly and looked back at the road. Jace exhaled heavily and squirmed a little. Tseng was nice to look at, but he put the hairs up on the back of her neck for some reason and she paid heed to that feeling. His sleek black hair, enigmatic expression and fathomless eyes combined to give one the impression that they were being watched by a jungle cat. _Panthers are very pretty, but I'm more of a dog person, thank you_.

"I'm curious, Miss Guerin." Jace started a little when Tseng's voice broke the silence and she turned to look at him with wide eyes. Tseng glanced at her for a moment as he continued. "Why did you take the position?" Jace blinked and opened her mouth, but was unable to think of an appropriate reply instantaneously. Somehow 'I took the job because I'm rediscovering my reckless streak, it gives me a chance to ogle your boss and you waved quite a bit of money in my face' seemed a bit too honest.

"Uh… well… the thing is…" she mumbled. _Alert, alert, we're going down!_ Jace grimaced and took a deep breath. "I felt that it was a wonderful opportunity to expand my skills and challenge myself, sir. Not to mention the prestige associated with working with Mr. Shinra." _There_, she thought as she exhaled, _that oughta hold him_. Tseng simply made a polite noise and continued to drive. The next few minutes passed in what Jace found to be a vaguely uncomfortable silence and she was very pleased when they parked in front of a very tall building in the business district.

She was halfway out of the car when she looked up and saw Tseng's outstretched hand. _Oh._ He had been planning on chivalrously helping her out of the car. Jace flushed and took his hand, allowing him to pull her the rest of the way out of her seat and then waited for him to close the door, feeling for all the world like a little girl who had tripped in front of the coolest kid in class. That feeling remained with her as Tseng began to list off her duties as they headed into the building. He spoke at an even, but rapid pace as they crossed the lobby and headed for the elevators. Jace tried to retain as much information as she could, all the while wishing for a note pad. Her memory could be highly selective when she was as nervous as she was right now.

The barrage continued as they stepped into the elevator and began to ascend. When the steady stream of instructions paused, Jace looked up in surprise and found Tseng studying her. "Miss Guerin," he said mildly. "You are not the person I would have chosen to take over as Mr. Shinra's secretary. But Mr. Shinra has chosen you and that means that he thinks there is something… worthy about you. I encourage you to prove him correct." Turk and secretary regarded each other for a moment and Jacinta managed a short nod. _I've survived hanging out with Reno, Rude and the rest of the nuts I work with,_ Jacinta thought, _not to mention dealing with recalcitrant computers and even more difficult clients. I can handle this. Besides, it's two weeks. Nothing is going to happen in two weeks. Of course, now that I've said that… No. It's all going to be fine._ Tseng watched with approval as Miss Guerin pushed her shoulders back and attempted a politely neutral expression very much like his own.

The doors to the elevator opened, revealing a broad hallway about a quarter block long. There were two doors near the elevators but after that there were few breaks in the stark elegance of the pale walls. Jacinta counted only four evenly placed windows on either side and between each of those was placed either a simple piece of abstract art or a tall Wutainese vase. She observed everything as she walked, but was careful to keep pace with Tseng. He had apparently decided to hold off on her education for the moment and the brief journey down the hallway was accomplished in silence. The hallways gave out into a large room, tastefully furnished in much the same mode as the hallway. Tseng gestured to the left. It took a moment for Jace to pick out the door he was pointing to; it was so cunningly blended into the wall.

"That door leads to a small set of rooms including a restroom, a kitchenette and a small area where we keep files that are, for whatever reason, hard copy." Tseng shifted his focus to the desk in front of the massive set of double doors that dominated the right side of the room. "Obviously that leads to Rufus's office. You will spend your time _there_." Jacinta followed his gaze to the large cherry wood desk that sat equidistant between the doors. _Huh. Well, if nothing else, it's a vast improvement over my cubicle_. She walked to the desk and looked it over. Everything was fairly standard. The phone was obviously top of the line but didn't look too complicated, same with the computer. She gently pushed back the rolling chair and sat down. She relaxed into the chair almost immediately with a contented sigh; the thing was almost mind numbingly comfortable… _No! Must resist the pull of the office chair of joy and focus!_

Jace looked up when Tseng cleared his throat. "The computer is already on; simply move the mouse to activate the screen. The password for today is 'kla07a43tuu56', please be aware that I'll change it tomorrow." He checked his watch. "If you will excuse me, I must attend a meeting in the main conference room. _For future reference, _it is one floor below us. Mr. Shinra is already in the meeting and will be going directly to a business lunch afterwards. He will no doubt wish to speak to you when he returns. In the meantime, his schedule and a list of instructions are on the computer's desktop. I will be in my office downstairs; my extension is the second one on the speed dial." Jace nodded slowly and Tseng gifted her with a small smile. "Good luck Miss. Guerin." She watched him go down the hall and enter the elevator. As soon as the doors closed behind the Wutain, she let out a huge sigh and surveyed the room. For a moment she simply sat, completely overwhelmed. Then she straightened. _Well I'm here… now what?_

* * *

"Do you have something to say, Reno?" Rufus didn't bother masking his irritation as he swung to face his bodyguard. The redhead had been glaring at his boss since he had taken over from Rude right after lunch. He had glowered during the entire drive back and the trip through the lobby. Now they were in the elevator, headed for the top floor and Rufus's office. Rufus locked eyes with Reno and did a bit of glaring himself. He could guess what was bothering the Turk, but he wanted to hear for himself exactly what was going on beneath that spiky hair. "Come now Reno, I've never known you to give up a chance to express your opinion, solicited or otherwise."

The redhead rolled his shoulders and frowned before biting out, "Reeve said she chose to come, so I haven't really got anything to say, do I?" Reno then bared his teeth in what might laughingly be referred to as a smile.

The corners of Rufus's mouth moved upward in his own parody of a grin. "I'm so glad to know that you have come to peace with something that you had no control over. When might that inner peace to be reflected on your face?" Reno refused to meet his superior's eyes and schooled his features into a sulky expression. After a moment, Rufus looked at the doors again. Petulant was the best he was likely to get. Hell, he was lucky that Reeve had included the part about Ms. Guerin's willingness in his explanation. Otherwise, it was highly likely that he would have received a call from Tseng regarding Reno's 'rescue' of the newest member of the Shinra staff. Reno would never do anything that might endanger his president or his comrades, but that left a lot of leeway for annoyingly rash behavior. If Rufus asked Reno to shoot the girl, the redhead would have done it with a minimum of fuss, but apparently hiring her was a something to pout over.

The elevator doors opened and Reno, as usual, stepped out first. He gave the area a cursory glance to ensure that it was safe and then took off down the hall, screaming 'Jace!' at the top of his lungs. Rufus heard an answering squawk and then "Reno! What the hell is the matter with you?" Reno wasted no time in screaming back. "What the hell is the matter with _me_? What the hell are _you_ doing taking this job? Do you have any idea what you've gotten yourself into? Working for Rufus Shinra? I know Reeve told you what happens to his secretaries and I'm not sure I'm ready to shave you bald again! Damn it, I thought you were smarter! Only thing I can figure is you want to get up close and personal with him…" There was a sound amazingly like a feral growl closely followed by a distinctly pained whine. Rufus exited the hallway, almost mesmerized by the sight and sound of his new secretary snarling as she painfully yanked on Reno's ears. They were standing behind the desk, Reno facing the hallway. Rufus let out a startled laugh and Miss Guerin whipped her head around.

"Just a sec, please…" she hissed and then turned back to a wide eyed Reno. "Listen you twit, just because you would violate a chocobo if you could sneak up on it doesn't mean I would sleep with the first man to wander by in white. Don't give me that look bucky, I've seen some of the women you give the eye. I've seen you pant after hose beasts of the lowest caliber. You're just jealous because he'd rather hire a bald crazy lady he's met once then trust you with a computer. It's probably because you dress like you lost a bet, wouldn't know a hairbrush if it followed you home and lack the intelligence the gods gave a tree frog!" The woman paused to draw a breath and continued on with her stream of invective, never once relaxing her grip on her captives' ears.

The redhead's watering eyes flashed from her to Rufus and back again, his mouth hanging open slightly. "Um, Jace…" Reno's hesitant statement was greeted by another vicious tug on his left ear.

Rufus was highly amused, although outwardly he was impassive. Apparently the girl hadn't really looked at him, and was intending to tear thoroughly into Reno; had Rufus not been in the room, he was fairly sure the Turk would have allowed her to get it all out of her system before returning fire. Reno was remarkably tolerant towards his friends, and his little tirade proved that he considered the girl more than an acquaintance. Arching an eyebrow, Rufus relaxed, happy to watch as Reno received an impressive dressing down. Miss Guerin was a spitfire if nothing else. Unfortunately, the tirade only lasted another minute or two before Miss Guerin stopped smack in the middle of a particularly choice phrase. Rufus frowned; he'd been enjoying himself. _She was definitely inventive; wonder if she has military in her background somewhere_. The young woman sucked in a breath and remained silent. Reno smiled widely.

"Figured out who's standing behind you, right yo?" His voice was amused and unexpectedly gentle. He straightened up, which was easy to do now that Miss Guerin was no longer using his ears as handles. Rufus absently noted that even when Reno had fully straightened, he didn't have much on Miss Guerin in terms of height. _That puts her at around 5'8", only an inch or two shorter than me_. _I wonder if she's wearing heels?_ He watched as she dropped her hands to her sides and her head to her chest. If he wasn't mistaken, there was a small whimper before Reno started laughing. The Turk grabbed her arm and swung her around. "Rufus Shinra, meet your new secretary, Jacinta Guerin."

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**_Yes, I know, I'm evil. It's not deliberate, believe me. I'll try to get the next chapter out soon. Please review! _**


	9. Between the lines

**_All the profitable ones belong to Square Enix. _**

**_This is fairly short but I feel very guilty for leaving you in the lurch._**

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_And I really gravitate to your will_

_Are you here to fetch me out?  
'Cause I've never had this taste in my mouth  
_

_Oh you're not old  
And you're not familiar  
Recently discovered and I'm learning about you…_

_New – No Doubt  
_

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Rufus decided to be charming. It was the least he could do for such an amusing display. He smiled at the top of Miss Guerin's head. "Pleased to meet you again," he said and waited for her to look up. She muttered something. "I'm sorry," Rufus offered, his smile growing strained. "What was that?" Miss Guerin shook her head, still looking at the floor.

"Nothing," she replied, barely audible.

Reno laughed again and poked her in the side. "Buck up, kid, he doesn't bite. Well, not much, anyways."

Rufus frowned slightly and headed for his office, an impatient movement of his hand signaling Reno to send his Miss Guerin after him. Rufus opened the door to his office himself, scanned it out of long habit and then headed for the window directly behind his desk. He could hear Reno's whispers as he walked away, giving the girl some last minute encouragement no doubt, some sort of joke and the reminder that this was only temporary. Rufus stared unseeing out the window and over the city that was only now becoming a shadow of its former self. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy knowing that his Turk was behind him, grooming a friend to face him.

Part of him missed the days when it had just been him and his Turks, when the rest of the world was decidedly against them and there had really only been the five of them. Every other relationship had been suspect; even Reeve had been scrutinized all over again. Tseng, Reno, Elena and Rude had stayed as close to him as possible for months, even after he was cured of Geostigma. He knew it was to comfort themselves as much as it was to protect him and even as he privately worried about living up to their expectations he had basked in their single minded devotion. But the world had settled and the Turks were stretching out, establishing new boundaries by making friends and pairing up. It felt odd to watch them setting up lives outside his sphere.

Part of him wanted to stop it, to call them back to where they belonged, namely with him at all times in his office or his bed or where ever else he saw fit to have them. He'd quickly come to the realization that while that is exactly what he would have done before everything had gone to hell, he just wasn't that man anymore. Rufus wanted the Turks to be happy; while any of them would sever their new ties if he asked it, would climb back under the covers with him without complaint, hell, even enthusiastically, he knew they would eventually resent it. The five of them were bound together and that would never stop, but the ties had become more elastic.

Rufus pulled himself from his musing and focused on the situation at hand. He turned to find Miss Guerin standing between the chairs in front of his desk, her eyes fixed on the snow white carpet, hands clasped behind her back and feet set a little over a foot apart. Her stance was somehow familiar and he resolved to ask about it at another time. Rufus used the opportunity provided by her inattention to study her. He had, of course, seen her before but obviously she hadn't been at her best in the elevator. She was dressed adequately, if not in the best quality clothing. _I'll have Elena take the girl shopping_. She was pretty enough; that was a relief. While he didn't need his secretary to be stunning, it helped if they were perhaps a little better looking than the average. People responded well to the physically pleasing, a fact that he had put to good use his entire life. Miss Guerin's face was a bit long and sharp for his tastes but her even features made up for it. She had wide brown eyes, an inoffensive nose and… Miss Guerin bit her lower lip. It was only for a moment but the motion was more than sufficient to temporarily derail his train of thought. _Where was I? Brown eyes, proportional nose, a small full lipped mouth… right._ Rufus frowned slightly and continued his perusal. Her hair was black, short and slightly wild. She looked, he thought, like she had just rushed in from another room.

Miss Guerin finally sensed his scrutiny and lifted her head, once again nibbling on her lower lip. The motion was, Rufus found, rather distracting. She stopped almost immediately, however and he blinked, somehow annoyed. Raising his eyes from her mouth, Rufus met her gaze for a moment before moving forward to take a seat at his desk. He knew she was watching him intently and trying to decide whether it would be better to take a seat or remain standing. He looked up at her and let his eyes drift to the left-hand chair. With no further prompting the girl moved and sank quickly into the seat. Rufus noted that her posture was so correct that it bordered on stiff. Something about that was familiar as well… he was pleased to see that she responded promptly to non verbal signals. Some people needed to have every directive spelled out for them in the plainest language, something for which he had little patience.

"Good afternoon sir!" she said, as soon as she was seated. Apparently in the space of the time it took the girl to sit down, she had regained her equilibrium. Rufus decided to see this as a positive sign, although he couldn't help but be somewhat suspicious. Previous experience had taught him to be wary of his secretaries and sudden mood shifts. "I want to apologize, sir," she added. Rufus inclined his head and waited for her to continue. "I'm sorry about that scene in the outer office. Rest assured you won't see that sort of behavior from me again." Miss Guerin's tone was perfectly earnest, as was her expression, so Rufus couldn't pin down why he felt like there was something off about that previous sentence. "Shall I list off what I've done for the day or will you simply read Tseng's report?" Miss Guerin asked, having taken his silence for the acceptance of her oddly worded apology.

Rufus narrowed his eyes. _There is no way that Tseng would have told her that he was going to be presenting me with a report about her_. Miss Guerin opened her eyes a bit wider, sucked in a breath and said slowly, "Was I not supposed to mention that?" Rufus just looked at her. "Hmmm…sorry. I just figured he would be keeping an eye on me because of the previous trouble you've had…" Miss Guerin seemed to realize what she'd said, and who she'd said it to, just prior to the end of her last word. To her credit, her pleasant expression remained in place except for her left eyebrow, which climbed slightly.

Rufus allowed himself a nearly imperceptible sigh. It was with a hint of regret that he dismissed the idea of just sending Miss Guerin back to Reeve. _Focus on the positives,_ he reminded himself. _She hasn't set fire to the office. She hasn't tried to make a play for you. She insulted Reno in an amusing manner. She must be fairly competent or Tseng would have sent her back or at very least called you. She's nervous. Try to think of her like you do Elena. A capable employee sometimes prone to fits of verbal diarrhea. _Rufus refocused on Miss Guerin, doing his level best to imagine her as something of a little sister. She met his gaze, her brow furrowed. Almost as if she couldn't help herself, she bit her lip for a moment. Rufus reluctantly admitted to a small stirring within himself. _Well, _he thought wryly._ There went picturing her as a little sister…_

"Let me begin by thanking you for coming in on such short notice Miss Guerin," Rufus said. "I regret that I was unable to greet you as soon as you arrived, but I had a meeting that could not be moved."

Ms. Guerin smiled. "I completely understand, sir. If you weren't busy you would hardly need me would you? I do feel bad for whatever poor soul is picking up my slack though. Would it be possible for me to speak to Tseng about some sort of training? I would like to do more then sit behind that desk."

_Well,_ Rufus thought, _she's confident in her abilities. That's a plus._ Her confidence and capacity to project calm poise were both marks in her favor. _See,_ his inner voice said, obviously more then willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. _She's capable of reasonable behavior. The key seems to be to keep her away from razors, alcohol and Reno. Of course, that's the key to avoiding so many problems… _

"I'm glad to hear that you feel your first day here has gone well. I'm sure Tseng will say the same." There was no point to denying that Tseng was keeping an eye on her, especially since she brought it up. "I am not an unreasonable man and I ask nothing of my employees that I don't ask of myself." _Pause for dramatic emphasis, drop voice just a bit to convey slightest hint of menace._ "It is my sincere hope that you will not fail as others have before you." He smiled. Ms. Guerin frowned, blinked and then frowned harder and shifted a little in her seat. After a moment she spoke.

"Was that _meant_ to be ominous?"

It was Rufus's turn to blink but he maintained his composure. He said nothing, instead letting his small smile become a smirk. He watched as his secretary's eyes widened to an impressive degree. _Forgot I was dangerous for a minute there didn't you?_ Rufus's superior train of thought was derailed when Miss Guerin stood up and headed for the door at an impressive clip. She was just this side of running actually and while the idea that he scared her was balm to Rufus's sensibilities, he was not at all pleased by her planned escape. His smile vanished back into its cage and he opened his mouth to call her to heel.

"Miss Guerin, we haven't finished," he said imperiously, annoyed at the fact that he had to raise his voice to be heard because she was already two thirds of the way across his massive office. She sped up ever so slightly, and stumbled. Rufus thought she might go down, but she caught herself, albeit clumsily, and reached the door without further incident. Rufus wondered if she would have the audacity to ignore him and leave the room. Miss Guerin paused at the door, her hand on the knob, the jerky movement of her shoulders indicating her heavy breathing. She took a very deep breath and whirled to face him, her pleasant expression back in place, heavy on the cheer.

"I'm sorry sir!" she practically sang. Her voice was slightly brittle. "I just wanted to be out there to greet your clients. You have a meeting starting in a few minutes." Rufus flicked a glance at the clock on his desk and glowered. She was right; he did have a meeting in a few minutes and he was damned if he was going to start late just for the pleasure of berating the help. That being said, he did have about five more minutes to make the little lunatic squirm. The impulse to allow her to escape warred with the spiteful desire to force her to stay just a bit longer and see if he could make her uncomfortable enough to do that lip thing again…

"Reno can show them in." he said calmly. _Spite 1, Charity 0._ Miss Guerin smiled a little too widely.

"But it's _Reno_ sir." She said as if that explained everything. Sadly, Rufus thought, it explained a hell of a lot. He narrowed his eyes at Miss Guerin but said nothing more. She was odd in the extreme but she couldn't be much worse then Reno. The man had an uncanny ability to offend, intimidate or just generally bother most clients. Miss Guerin turned the door handle and Rufus looked at his desk, intending to make sure he had the documents for the meeting. When he didn't hear the door close after a minute he looked up to find Miss Guerin standing in the doorway. He raised an inquiring brow and she grinned, again, a little too widely. "Don't worry sir," she said. "I promise I won't fail like the others." With that, she slipped out. Once again Rufus was left with the uncomfortable feeling that he had just been handed some sort of ambiguous warning. Why was he putting up with her again?

Cue his helpful inner voice, the one that sounded not unlike Tseng. _Because you can survive WEAPON but you can't find a decent secretary. Because you're at your wits end and after this you're going to try Reno's trained chocobo idea. Because you told Reeve you owed him and since you know he's going to call in the favor one way or another you're determined to get the most out of it. Because she's interesting if nothing else. Because she does that lip thing…_

Rufus frowned. All those reasons were valid, (except the last one), particularly the one about Reeve. The former Shinra executive might be a shameless idealist, but he had a practical streak that impressed even Rufus. It had to, otherwise there was no way he would have funded the W.R.O. Reeve was never one to turn down the possibility of more money; he would take advantage of Rufus's offer of payment whether Miss Guerin stayed or not. Hell, the bearded goody-goody would probably laugh about getting one over on his former boss and he wouldn't be the only one amused. Rufus glowered as he imagined Reno's smug expression as the Turk escorted the girl back to the W.R.O.'s offices. The redheaded menace would never let Rufus live it down. But worse than that smirking idiot's infantile jabs would be the careful blankness on Tseng's face. Anyone else may have thought the Wutain didn't care, but Rufus knew the dark haired man would be silently questioning the point of going to all this trouble. Tseng never said 'I told you so', he just let people stew in the knowledge that he _could_ say it but was far too polite to do so.

Rufus exhaled slowly and focused on giving the documents in front of him one last going over and pushing the vexation that was his new secretary to the back of his mind. He had survived worse then her for longer then two weeks. Either she would rise to the challenge and he would keep her (after a strongly worded lecture about exactly how things were going to go on if she was to stay), or she would reveal some deeper level of insanity and he would send her back to Reeve with a haughtily worded note. The idea of lording over Reno and Reeve that their little girlfriend was a nut case was an enjoyable one and when his clients entered the room they were met with rare enthusiasm.

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_**Please review!**_


	10. A cunning plan

_**All the profitable ones belong to Square Enix.**_

**_I liiiiiiive! Sorry about the delay but I wanted to make sure I gave you something with a bit of meat to it. That and my long suffering beta had to gently lead me back to the path of reasonable plot development. She's lovely that way. I will go out on a limb and say that things should go a bit faster from here, at least for a while.  
_**

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****

_Back off I'll take you on  
Headstrong to take on anyone_

_Headstrong – Trapt  
_

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Jace stepped out of Rufus's office, closed the door behind her and sighed heavily and then had to immediately deal with a smirking Turk.

"Went well, did it?" Reno's voice was made all the more jovial by its undercurrent of relief. _What did he expect?_ Jace thought, _that his boss was going to kill me? He'd probably have Tseng do it. Then again, Rufus is known for being very involved in the day to day workings of the company…_ Jace thought back to the smirk Rufus had sent her way. Zoloms don't have that many teeth.

"Hey." Reno's torso moved into Jace's line of sight. A moment later a pale hand grabbed her chin and forced her head up. She focused on that hand and the wrist attached to it, noting the strength in those slender fingers and the profusion of scars. "Hey," Reno said again, his voice low. Jace met his eyes almost against her will. "I can take you back to Reeve. Just say the word."

She swallowed and looked away. _It really is just that simple isn't it,_ she thought. _I just say that I don't want to stay here and he either calls Tseng to cover him while he takes me back or Tseng does it himself. I'll be dropped off in Reeve's office, he'll look me over, ask me if I'm ok in that concerned voice of his and then he'll probably send me home for the rest of the day. Yuffie will call me tonight after Reno or Reeve tell her what happened and it'll come up at the next Bad Movie Night but that will be it. I'll have failed and they'll just accept it because after all I could hardly be expected to be able to handle Rufus Shinra... _

"Jace, I can hear the elevator." Reno said. "Those clients are gonna be here in about a minute so you gotta make the call on whether you're going to cut your losses or not."

_Cut my losses…_ Jace frowned. No, she wasn't going to cut her losses and slink back to Reeve, cowed by the icy threats of her temporary boss. If she was going to fail at this position it wouldn't be because she spent all her time in the coat closet, afraid to say boo to a dust bunny. End of the day, she only had to make it through the next two weeks. That wasn't so long.

Reno watched as Jace's dark brown eyes hardened and fought down the urge to grin. He'd been sure the bit about cutting her losses would do it. The girl had a competitive streak a mile wide _if _she could be tricked or coerced into giving a damn. He'd been sure that Rufus's holier-than-thou routine would raise her hackles. No doubt the boss had tried to intimidate her, had implied that she was lacking the skills needed. Hell, she probably _was_, but her innate intelligence allowed her to pick most of it up.

Jace's eyes cleared and she seemed to realize just how close Reno was to her. She pushed him away and stalked to her desk, muttering about lecherous Turks and white suited bullies. As soon as Jace had her back to him, Reno gave into his urge to grin devilishly. Reeve and Yuffie would no doubt pitch a fit, but as far as Reno was concerned the plan was flawless. Everybody got a little something.

The boss got a new secretary, who was someone that Reno and Rude knew well enough to feel fairly comfortable with from a security standpoint. Reeve got something new to worry over, plus, if what Tseng had told Rude was correct, a hefty chunk of change for the W.R.O. Tseng got someone new to order around. Reno got a new reason to pester the boss and would look good to Yuffie doing it. And last, but not least, Jace would be far too busy dealing with Rufus, Tseng and a raft of clients and coworkers to consult with Yuffie about the vengeance he knew they were plotting. By the time everything was sorted out, hopefully any anti-Reno-and-Rude sentiment would have been forgotten. All that, and Jace was looking at a precipitous rise in salary. The more Reno thought about it, the more she owed him a round of drinks… or six.

The elevator chimed and he glanced down the hallway. Two men in their late fifties stepped out. Representatives of yet another manufacturing company looking to get in good with the new improved Shinra. Reno had seen them before at a meeting Rufus attended a couple of weeks ago. They were pompous fools, the both of them, but they were well respected and by dealing with them Rufus burnished his own image. Reno blew out a breath and prepared to be bored to death as he watched Rufus and these stiffs drone on.

Jace came to stand beside him and he glanced over at her. She was the picture of serenity. She greeted both men sweetly and engaged them in a bit of light banter about the weather as she led them to Rufus's door, leaving Reno to bring up the rear. He made a mental note to let her know to do that from now on and wondered absently if she realized that she was making it easier for him to keep an eye on their guests. Jace knocked, paused and then opened the office door and preceded the two men into the room. She saw them seated and asked if they would like refreshments as Reno moved to take his place behind and to the right of Rufus. Both men politely declined her offer and, with an amiable smile directed at no one in particular, Jace departed the room. Reno settled back and let the initial pleasantries and business related patter wash over him, content in the knowledge that everything was going to plan.

_The next day… _

Jace emerged from the antechamber to the right of her desk to see a blonde woman sitting at her desk. She frowned, until the woman turned and then she recognized the face. "Hello," she said, slowly. "Elena right?"

The woman smiled and nodded. "You must be Miss Guerin." Elena rose from the chair, her right hand extended.

"Pleased to meet you." They said in unison as they shook hands and smiled at each other.

"How are you enjoying your second day at Shinra Company, Miss Guerin?" Elena asked.

"Call me Jace and it's been… busy. Lots of people to meet, lots of things to learn. I'm sure you know how it is."

Elena nodded. "It can be overwhelming. But, if Tseng thinks you can do it, then I'm sure you'll rise to the occasion."

Jace grinned ruefully. "Thanks. I'll do my best. So, what brings you up here? Something I can help you with? Or are you here to show me something?"

Elena smiled again, more hesitantly this time. "They didn't tell you?" she asked.

The dark-haired girl shook her head. "Tell me what?"

Elena's expression was still pleasant despite the confusion apparent in her eyes. "I'm to take you shopping for appropriate attire. The President was quite insistent that it be done today, since your current clothing is highly unsuitable… I'm sorry. That came out wrong. He just meant that there are certain standards here and…" Jace's left eyebrow made a break for her hairline. Elena stopped talking and looked faintly miserable. "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way."

"I'm sure _you_ didn't." Jace retorted icily and sidestepped Elena, heading for the office door.

Rufus heard the door opening and reflexively reached for the shotgun under his desk. Tseng, sitting in one of the chairs in front of said desk, fluidly leapt to his feet. There was little reason to believe that the building's numerous layers of security had been breached, but better paranoid than impaled, shot or gassed. Both men calmed when it turned out to be Miss Guerin and Elena. Miss Guerin stormed forward, her face a study of barely suppressed ire. Elena was a few steps behind the furious girl, her expression calm, but her cheeks apple red. Tseng and Rufus exchanged a glance. Elena had greatly improved in terms of keeping information to herself, but occasionally she still let too much slip.

Miss Guerin came to a halt directly in front of Rufus's desk and stood stock still, legs together and arms at her sides. Once again the stance pricked Rufus's memory and he reminded himself to ask Tseng about her background after this had been dealt with. _In the meantime_… "Is there something I can help you with, Miss Guerin?" Rufus asked nonchalantly. He could hazard a guess as to why she was in high dudgeon but he wanted her to say it directly.

"Sir," she stated, her even tone belying the murderous look in her eyes, "I'm afraid I must refuse your kind offer to purchase new clothes for me. I'm sorry that you find my current garments unsuitable and I'll go shopping tonight, but it would be… inappropriate for you to foot the bill."

_Ah, as I suspected_, he thought. _I'll bet Elena repeated some of my less than flattering comments about her attire._ Rufus studied the clothing in question. Jace was wearing another skirt and shirt combo, this time in black and green. There was nothing wrong with the outfit _per se_; it wasn't the latest style, to be sure, but it was passable if a bit…

_Just say it,_ his inner voice purred. _You want her in clothes that fit, so the next time you watch her stretch you won't see that inch of smooth looking skin just above her navel. If you don't see it again, you won't spend another morning thinking about it and then there's no problem right?_

Rufus took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, determined to ignore the lecher that apparently lived in his head. "There is nothing unusual about the arrangement, Miss Guerin," he answered slowly, intent on keeping his eyes focused on her face. "My previous secretaries have been happy to avail themselves of the opportunity." Miss Guerin stiffened even further and her expression became downright frosty. Rufus barely noticed, since his attention was diverted by the interesting effect excruciatingly correct posture had on Miss Guerin's... bust. _Well, hello there. She's certainly displayed to advantage, isn't she? Also, it must be cold in here…_

"I am not like your previous employees," Miss Guerin snapped. "You'll do well to remember that, _sir_."

Rufus suddenly found it easy to focus only on her face. _Luscious figure or not, no one dictates to Rufus Shinra…_ "You would do well to remember your position here, Miss Guerin," he said, his displeasure barely masked by a tone redolent with exaggerated patience. "Most people are wise enough not to refuse my generosity." Rufus allowed his voice to take on a hint of condescension. "You'll be given a generous credit limit of course."

Miss Guerin's face went blank and her body relaxed. Rufus smirked and flicked a glance to his left, allowing Miss Guerin a moment to decide how best to verbally retreat. _Just wave access to my money at nine out of ten women and watch them melt…_ Rufus looked back at Miss Guerin, a small smile curving his lips. Their eyes locked. _She would have to be woman number ten wouldn't she…_

If the look in her eyes was any indication of her appreciation of his generosity, she had in fact relaxed her stance in order to be sure that she would clear the desk when she leapt at his throat. Rufus could almost _hear_ her grinding her teeth.

_Brilliant,_ his inner voice cooed, sounding entirely too amused. _She's so angry, she's almost vibrating. Way to make use of the legendary Shinra charm. She's pretty when she's angry though. Eyes flashing, chest heaving… _

Stop it, Rufus thought harshly. We… _I _am _not_ lusting after an employee.

_Right. Would this be a good time to point out that the last time you had sex, which was way too long ago by the way, it was with Reno?_

She's not a Turk.

_No she's not. Much too curvy for that…_

"Miss Guerin." Tseng's smooth voice broke the silence. "Perhaps there has been some sort of… miscommunication." Rufus glowered at the man's back, unhappy with the implication that this was somehow _his_ fault. Miss Guerin glowered at Rufus for a moment more and then shifted her eyes to Tseng. She seemed to almost immediately calm down. Tseng had that effect on people, something Rufus had always envied. "It seems Miss Guerin, that you have the incorrect impression that this offer was some sort of… gift." Tseng's voice was the epitome of rational calm. "That is not at all the case. Clothes are being provided to you the same way that Reno's EMR was provided to him or a sword would be provided to a SOLDIER. They are tools of the trade and indications of status within the organization. I'm sure you understand."

Miss Guerin frowned slightly at the mention of SOLDIER, her body tensing again. She directed an intense look at Tseng for a few moments and then smiled thinly. "I understand, sir," she said and shifted her stance to legs apart, hands behind her back. Something clicked in Rufus's head. _Like a SOLDIER…_ He was suddenly very impatient to have her gone so that he could speak to Tseng. Turning to his computer, he began typing, intent on pulling up her personnel file. He paused and looked up when she spoke again. "I hope you understand sir, that I'm still a free agent, uniform or no." Rufus looked at Tseng in time to see the man incline his head. Miss Guerin bowed slightly to Tseng and turned to Elena.

The two women considered each other briefly and then Elena said quietly, "We'd better get going." The Turk led the way from the room and Miss Guerin followed without sparing another glance at the room's occupants.

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_**Happy Halloween!**_

_**Please review!**_


	11. Finally!

_**None of the profitable ones are mine.  
**_

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_I'm so sorry my dears! I fell pregnant and went back to school but that's besides the point. I've left you lonesome for far too long and I am dreadfully, sincerely sorry. I hope this meets with your approval. For anyone who has written me and not received a response, I'm again, very sorry! I'll strive to do better! Oh and one last thing. I may go back and edit this chapter a bit later but I decided to go ahead and put it out before the kid makes its appearance.  
_

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_Come around to my way of thinking_

_Don't you want to, want to get along?_

_Sister Havana – Urge Overkill  
_

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Elena kept an eye on the woman sitting beside her. Jacinta was staring out the passenger side window but she didn't look like a woman taking in the scenery. Elena had the feeling that only her presence kept Jacinta from hitting her head against the glass, an impulse Elena knew well. She was no stranger to letting her mouth run away with her when she least wanted it to. Elena refocused on the road for a moment and tried to look at the situation objectively, something that was rather difficult to do. Elena had signed up to have her clothes and housing and weaponry provided by the company, specifically by Rufus. Hell, it wouldn't be outside the realm of reason to say her boyfriend was company issue as well. The life she had now was all Elena had ever wanted. She furrowed her brow and tried to imagine a regular job. Leaving work concerns at work, taking real vacations and having the option of quitting if the work did not suit… it seemed weird, somehow.

A sudden rhythmic thumping sound broke Elena's reverie. She looked to her left and found that Jacinta had elected to go ahead and start pounding her head against the window, witness or no. She couldn't see Jacinta's face but the thumps were increasing in frequency and vehemence. Perhaps she should say something? "You shouldn't do that, you know. You'll hurt yourself and you're smudging the glass." _Brilliant, Elena_, she thought. _That was tremendously comforting. Next kick her in the shins__…_ "I mean…" She floundered for a second. It was hard to come up with a believable way to comfort someone who had just insulted their boss, especially when the boss was Rufus. Silence reigned as Elena drove the last few blocks to the boutique, pulled into the parking garage and parked. After a quick visual inspection of their surroundings she judged it safe enough for a few minutes of conversation. _What to say?_ She didn't think much of Jacinta's behavior but in the absence of orders to kill or maim the woman it seemed best to try to cheer her up somewhat. If nothing else it would mean a more pleasant afternoon for everyone. "Look, Jacinta…"

"I'm sorry." Jacinta's voice was low and miserable. She turned away from the window and made eye contact with Elena. "I'm sorry about your glass, and dragging you into that, and that I yelled at Mr. Shinra. It was… it wasn't well done of me."

"Huh." Elena wasn't sure what to do with that. _At least she has some idea what she's done_… Nodding slowly, she debated the best way to handle the situation. Finally she cast a critical eye on the woman in front of her. "The thing I don't get," she said slowly, "is why you went on the warpath like you did. I suppose I can understand being uncomfortable having a man buy you clothes. I can definitely understand wanting to say something about it and considering you hang out with Reno, I'm not even surprised that you would go straight to the source instead of speaking to Tseng. But the list of people who can disagree with the President, much less yell at him, does _not_ include you. Besides, everyone said you were so polite. And smart."

Jacinta sighed and shrugged, her expression sheepish. "Split personality?" she ventured. Elena raised a brow, something all the Turks and Rufus had picked up from Tseng. Jacinta sighed. "Honestly? I get angry very quickly. I'm a lot better then I used to be about not acting on my first impulse but sometimes I just… let fly when someone really bothers me."

The eyebrow went a little higher. "Rufus bothers you?" _Why in all hells are you here then?_ Elena thought, her face reflecting her incredulity.

Jacinta shrugged again. "He just…" She looked chagrined for a moment and then she took a deep breath. "I respect him very much and I will strive to make this the last problem he has with me. It's only another twelve days right? How hard can it be to stay quiet and out of trouble for twelve days?"

Elena judged that to be a rhetorical question but she couldn't resist a chance to twit her companion a little. "I suppose it depends on just how much you have in common with Reno." Jacinta shot her a sour look. Elena smiled slightly and continued, "Out of curiosity, what about Rufus bothers you?"

Jacinta grimaced. "He's… frustrating."

"So is Reno."

"Yeah, but Reno's like an annoying little brother, which is kinda odd considering the fact that I think he's older then I am… anyway. Mr. Shinra is annoying because he always looks like he knows something you don't know and he's never going to tell you nor is he ever going to let you forget that you won't find out what's so bloody interesting in the first place." Jacinta glared at the dashboard for a moment and then glanced at Elena. "Just out of curiosity and not that I don't like you but why are you concerned about whether or not Mr. Shinra puts the sweet in my sugar or not? You're on his side either way."

Elena let her lips curve. "That's right," she said, making no effort to look non-threatening. "I am always on Rufus's side." She watched Jacinta's eyes widen and was satisfied with her reaction enough to infuse her smile with its customary warmth. "But that doesn't mean I can't see where he might be… difficult to get used to quickly." Jacinta remained silent and tilted her head to the side. _Remembering just who you're talking to aren't you?_ Elena thought. She watched Jacinta and could almost see her revising the way she looked at the youngest and least dangerous-looking member of the Turks. Apparently she came to some sort of a decision because she smiled slightly.

"I think you may be better at that than Mr. Shinra," the dark haired girl said.

Elena smiled wider, genuinely complimented. "Well I can't take all the credit, I did learn from the best," she said demurely.

Jacinta nodded and picked absentmindedly at her sleeve. "So… any advice for the peace minded temporary receptionist? I would dearly love to stay on the right side of things as it were." Jacinta's sincere tone was only faintly touched with irony. Elena decided she would keep an eye on the other woman. Jacinta was generally charming but then again, all of Rufus's secretaries had started out that way as had several so-called friends and business associates that were currently quietly rotting in classified locations. Not as many as in the old days, but still. It paid to stay alert.

"My advice to you would be to keep two things in mind. First, if you give Rufus the loyalty and competence that you've given Reeve, the next twelve days should be no problem. Second and more salient to today's events, keep in mind that you are working for a man who was literally raised to rule the world. He doesn't always ask for things if you catch my meaning."

Jacinta nodded. "Just so long as I can reserve the right to say no to both implied and direct questions." she said firmly. Elena inclined her head. She would make no promises but she respected the other woman's desire to draw a line in the sand. _At least she seems straight forward,_ Elena thought as they headed into the store.

_**Back in Rufus's office…**_

"Why didn't anyone tell me her father was a SOLDIER?"

Rufus looked up from the computer screen that had occupied him in the ten minutes since the ladies had left, obviously expecting a prompt answer to his question. Tseng would have liked to take comfort in the neutrality of Rufus's tone but he knew the other man too well to be anything but wary. While Reno grabbed all the press in terms of unpredictability, Rufus was an old hand of reacting to situations in ways that others might not expect. Tseng could usually predict his employer's actions with an enviable degree of accuracy but sometimes that only amounted to knowing when to duck.

_Times like now, for instance_. "I'm sorry sir; I was under the impression that it was her somewhat unique credentials were part of her appeal as an employee." Rufus just stared at him, a clear signal to his subordinate that he desired more information and was quite willing to be quite nasty to get it. Tseng resolved to keep an eye on Rufus's gun arm and continued, "I would never wish to second guess you," _not that I wouldn't, just that I don't like to_, "and so after making sure that she had no history or anti-Shinra activity I brought her here as per your instruction. In point of fact her time with the W.R.O. was marked by exemplary service and she is hardly the first person affected by the old order to find a place with you now. Even her status as the biological child of a SOLDIER makes her uncommon but not startlingly unique." Tseng raised an eyebrow. _Why do you care?_ Rufus gave him an arch look. _I'll see your arch_, Tseng thought, _and raise you the faintest hint of smirk. Hold position just long enough to remind you who taught you that look_...

Rufus settled back in his chair with a glower. "Is there anything else I should know?" he demanded, his annoyance clear.

"Sir?"

"Is she related to anyone else that I should know about? Is she perhaps a long lost cousin of Strife perhaps?"

Tseng allowed his lips to curve ever so slightly upward. "I shouldn't think so, sir. She's too tall for one thing." Rufus's expression darkened. He wasn't much taller then Strife all things considered and Jacinta and he were of a height, something that probably didn't please the President. Tseng smiled just a bit more. "She's also too talkative, sir and she's not nearly fair enough. There is also her predilection for the company of Turks. Oh and her hair doesn't look like it would maul passersby given the chance…"

"Yes, Tseng," Rufus said, evidently torn between amusement and exasperation. "Thank you. Are there any facts about Miss Guerin or her family that I would find particularly relevant?"

Tseng mentally sifted though the information he had gathered about Miss Guerin before her arrival and in the two days since and then shrugged. "I will continue to check again for any worrying information, but so far it appears that Miss Guerin is as you hoped she would be. Intelligent, enthusiastic, personable…" Rufus looked faintly incredulous and Tseng inclined his head, "most of the time. It is early yet, sir, but I am cautiously hopeful regarding her time here."

Rufus frowned slightly, his eyes fixed on the desk before him. Tseng canted forward almost imperceptibly, intent on his employer. He was tremendously curious about just what this little question and answer session meant. Little did most people know it but hidden behind Tseng's imperturbable exterior was an intent and experienced busybody. He liked to think it was part of what made him such a good bodyguard and leader. Rufus's interest piqued his and the Turk resolved to look even further into Miss Guerin's past whether his employer requested it or no.

Rufus seemed to come to some sort of decision and looked at Tseng who did his best to seem unconcerned instead of avid. "Cautiously hopeful. Coming from you that is high praise indeed. You don't think we'll see another outburst like this one?" Rufus asked slowly.

Tseng gave an elegant shrug. "I am as sure as one can be at this early stage of the game, sir. While she has done very well so far, Miss Guerin is obviously untrained in dealing calmly with unexpected provocation."

Rufus raised an eyebrow and leaned forward. "You think she had cause to come in here like a one woman stampede," he said, his tone almost wondering. "She almost went for my throat and you're 'cautiously hopeful' about the next two weeks? I had always thought Tseng, that if ever you decided to betray me, I could at least rely on you delivering the killing blow but now I find it's to be a mere functionary."

Tseng drew himself up stiffly, the very picture of affronted dignity. "There is no need to question my loyalty, Mr. President. If I thought Miss Guerin was an actual threat to you, you may be assured she would never again enter the city, much less the building. You may also rest assured that I thought Miss Guerin acted rashly and will speak to her regarding the matter. Considering her background and temperament however, I believe it was not out of character." _You should have seen this coming_, Tseng's eyes said. _Don't blame me for your failures._ Rufus looked away, the slightest hint of a flush on his cheeks and a sullen glare marring his features.

"How exactly was I to know that she would fly off the handle like that? Anyone else would have been ecstatic to lay hands on my money." Rufus had no doubt meant to sound righteous, but only managed something rather close to a whine. To his credit he obviously realized how immature he sounded because his cheeks reddened further and he grimaced. Tseng shifted infinitesimally in his seat and waited for his employer to collect himself. Though Rufus trusted Tseng enough to let down some of his formidable guard around him, Rufus still reacted badly to direct admonishment.

Tseng sat silently, waiting for his President to come to a decision on his own. He was confident that if Rufus wanted his input he would ask for it. Tseng was not without sympathy for the man before him. It was not easy to confuse Rufus but it could be done. Someone who was not only uninterested in taking advantage of Rufus but reacted violently to the implication that they would be so inclined was a novelty.

"Is she unsatisfactory sir?" Tseng asked, his eyes intent. Rufus had no reason to lie to him but still…

"No, Tseng." Rufus refocused and his lips twisted in a wry smile. "She's entirely sufficient for the cause. Thank you for the report."

Tseng stood, automatically responding to the dismissal inherent in Rufus's words. _What is going on? If he had a problem with her he would just say so. Curious. Perhaps_… "Sir."

"Yes, Tseng?"

"I have selected a few candidates for the personal assistant position. When would you like to begin interviews?"

Rufus stopped reading the paper in front of him long enough to look up at Tseng. His voice was neutral when he announced, "I don't have time to deal with that right now. I'll take a look at your favorites in a few days. Thank you." This dismissal was even more obvious this time and with a bow, Tseng turned to leave the room. _Curiouser and curiouser. This bears watching. _

_**Later that day**_…

Jace looked down at her new aubergine suit with matching shoes and a crisp black wool coat, and couldn't help but forgive those demon shop assistants at least a little bit. She looked and felt like… well… she felt like the amount that Rufus had paid which was nothing to sneeze at. Her eyebrows had flown into her hairline when she'd heard the total and she'd had to lay a steadying hand on the counter as Elena calmly pulled out her credit card. Jace hadn't thought it was going to be cheap but she'd had no idea that two weeks worth of clothes were going to run Rufus enough to buy a car! She spent the ride back to the office in shock.

She was still in shock when she and Elena exited the elevator and headed toward her desk. She waived absentmindedly at Tseng, completely oblivious to the amused look he and Elena shared. "Miss Guerin," Tseng said quietly. "You look very becoming." She emerged from her fog and smiled at him and gave a small curtsy. "I'm sure Rufus would like to see your new outfit," the bodyguard suggested. He watched in amusement as Jacinta glanced at the door and then took a deep breath.

"Surely not sir," she replied slowly. "I'm sure he's busy and besides, we've been gone all day. No doubt I'm terribly behind."

Tseng took a certain pleasure in being able to cut the legs out from under that less then subtle dodge. "No need to worry, Miss Guerin, I've made sure that your duties for the day were fulfilled and I'm sure that Rufus has a moment to spare for you."

Miss Guerin shot him a harassed look which he met with his normal placid expression.

"Well I'll just go then, shall I?" Jacinta gave slight bows to both Tseng and Elena, squared her shoulders and literally marched to the door of Rufus's office, opened the door and walked in.

As soon as the door shut, Elena turned to her boss. "If I hadn't known about her father before I would have wondered after that." Tseng made a soft noise of agreement and turned to face his lover. It was habit for him to look all of his Turks over after every mission, no matter how mundane. It helped him to ascertain not only their physical but their mental condition and whether they felt things had gone well or not. With Elena that habitual perusal was elongated a bit, just enough to bring that becoming blush to her cheeks. It was a source of fascination to him that she could still blush after what they'd done professionally and personally but sure enough, a pretty flush rose in her cheeks. Tseng decided to have mercy on her and spoke of business related matters. "How did it go?"

"Fine sir," Elena said, her voice just the slightest bit breathless. Tseng resisted the urge to grin at her susceptibility. "We purchased clothing and accessories for the next two weeks. I thought it best to purchase a wide variety of clothes including…" The younger Turk's voice gained surety as she delivered her report.

When the knock sounded at the door it barely impinged on Rufus's attention. He had been determined to focus on work, not the perfectly mundane history of a certain temporary employee. With that goal in mind he had not left his office for the past… however long had it been. He glanced at his watch in irritation as the door opened. It had been at least six hours since he'd sent Elena and Jacinta out. _For someone who seemed so offended by being forced to spend my money, she's tremendously comfortable taking her time about it_ he thought sourly.

He looked up, expecting to see Tseng. Truth be told he rather hoped it was Elena, come back to tell him that Jacinta Guerin was covered in scales from neck to midriff. _Mmmm, _his inner voice purred_. Interesting theory you… we… have there. Perhaps it should be verified in person that she isn't? Just in case Elena didn't get a chance to check…_ Rufus's slight frown bloomed into an out and out glower when he saw just who was slowly approaching his desk.

He sat silent for a moment, trying to decide whether the situation was now better or worse. _On the one hand__ she's more professionally dressed; on the other__ those clothes __are__ disconcertingly flattering. Oh, what hand tailoring can do for a woman's appearance_… his baser self whispered, delighting in the picture Jacinta now presented. The woman herself seemed inordinately interested in the view just above and to the left of his head as she walked forward. She halted not two feet in front of his desk and stood quietly, obviously waiting for his verdict. Rufus raked a practiced eye over her new clothes. As he had expected, Elena had taken the directive to see Jacinta properly attired as seriously as she took all other assignments. Rufus's gaze swept over Jacinta from head to… thigh. That was the full view from behind his desk. Annoyed that he was not getting the full effect of his investment, he stood and moved from behind his desk. He paused slightly more than an arm's reach from her; close enough to get a good view but not close enough to crowd.

He surveyed her outfit closely for a minute and then motioned for her to turn. Jacinta did so quickly and without comment. Rufus studied her outfit and found nothing out of place. The cut was superb, skimming her curves but not overemphasizing them. _Leaves something to the imagination._ The pencil style skirt stopped just above the knee and the heels she wore were short but still managed to visually elongate her legs. _You'll have to give Elena your compliments_. For once Rufus was in perfect agreement with his inner voice. The suit showed Jacinta to advantage. _Two weeks of this is something to look forward to. Will miss the little glimpses of flesh though_… Rufus shook his head almost imperceptibly and bought his eyes up to Jacinta's.

She was watching him carefully, her eyes worried and her lower lip being slowly tortured. He blinked and reflexively ran his tongue along the inside seam of his own lips, imagining soothing that abused flesh.

"Come on, don't leave me in suspense. Are you thinking good thoughts or bad thoughts?" Jacinta's sudden question came as a surprise. Caught uncharacteristically off guard Rufus almost responded by showing her exactly what he was thinking. He tried to picture her reaction if he just moved forward, grabbed her and tested that lush little mouth of hers. After a few minutes of that he'd settle down to showing her exactly why he insisted on the most comfortable couch an obscene amount of money could buy.

"I'm sorry about this morning." Her voice was low, her expression sincere. Rufus gifted her with a smile, temporarily distracted by her earnest sounding apology. He was always pleased when the other party admitted culpability first. Not only did it establish him in a position of power, it also allowed him to be generous if he was so inclined.

"I am willing to speak no more of the incident," he said, in the mood to be magnanimous. His generosity was rewarded when Jacinta released a relieved breath and grinned at him.

"Thank you for having Elena look after me. She was very kind. I hope our absence didn't cause you too much trouble."

Rufus allowed himself a small, elegant shrug. "We managed." Jacinta's smile became a bit more of a smirk and Rufus had to repress the urge to grin back. They both knew she didn't really have much to do. Lacking full clearance as she did and considering the fact that he hadn't many visitors in the last few days, Jacinta was no doubt wondering just why he bothered having a secretary. She wasn't the first to be surprised by just how boring being the head of a major corporation, even Shinra, could be. Sephiroth had stopped popping up every few years, there didn't seem to be any more top secret research facilities and Hojo was most definitely dead this time. Provided the unholy spawn of Heidegger and Scarlett wasn't out there somewhere planning vengeance, the future looked fairly predictable. Rufus didn't resist a wry grin as he spoke. "I'm sorry this is all so boring for you. Perhaps I can arrange some sort of…"

"Oh no," Jacinta said quickly. "This isn't boring at all. New challenges provide the most satisfaction don't you think?"

Rufus blinked and then smiled slowly. "I agree completely." Suddenly he wanted to know how a blush would look under that brown skin. "I always do my best to offer challenges to my employees. I like to see who has the stamina and dedication to keep up with me."

Jacinta's eyes widened slightly. "I may have to work up to it, sir," she said slowly. "I don't know that I've ever had to play at your level as it were. Judging by the hours you and the Turks keep, I won't be getting much sleep." She smiled again and gave a slightly husky laugh. "I'll have to make sure to go to bed early and eat right. Maybe I should do some stretches. Honestly sir, this could be the start of a whole new me." She was smiling widely now, clearly amused by the idea.

"You may as well call me Rufus," he offered, shifting slightly to disguise rising interest from certain quarters. _Jacinta dressed in some skintight outfit, testing her flexibility_… sitting was probably smarter but he felt the need for action. "Stretching is important," he mused as he moved closer. "Warming up is key to a fulfilling exercise session. That and the proper form. Have you exercised before?" He began advancing on her, enjoying Jacinta's adorably blank expression as she tried to figure out if he was actually lecturing her on physical fitness. After a minute's thought she inhaled sharply. Rufus halted, now about two feet from her. He could practically see understanding come over her face.

"Ru-fus…" she said slowly. It was fascinating watching her lips form his name, first puckering as if for a kiss and then parting to reveal her even white teeth. He flicked a glance at her darkly mischievous gaze and then looked back at that mouth when she spoke again. "I think I remember the basics but I'll look into a refresher course." She gave him a quick once over. "I doubt I'll be able to get as… healthy looking as you in the next week though."

For a delicious moment they simply smiled at each other and considered their next salvos. Finally Rufus spoke. "Thank you," he said a bit dryly. "Careful that you don't spoil me with compliments."

"Not at all," Jacinta said cheerfully. "From what I've seen you have a lot of traits worth complimenting." Rufus met her gaze again.

"Do tell, Jacinta," he drawled.

"Tell you about what?" she smiled.

"I find I'm curious as to which parts of me you find worth compliments."

"I don't know that I'm the best person to ask, since I'm hardly an unbiased observer, sir. I'm sorry, Rufus." _The things the woman could do with two syllables was positively obscene… _

Rufus suppressed a shiver and issued a short command. "Pretend."

Jacinta laughed a little and shook her head. "Oh no. I am not talking about you and my imagination right now."

Rufus moved forward, driven by the desire to taste her amusement. "When shall we discuss it?" he murmured, less then a foot away now. He stopped again and looked down at her still smiling face. He was conscious of her breathing, a bit slower then normal. Then again, he was hardly in a position to say anything about breath control. He was definitely breathing more heavily then necessary.

Jacinta tilted her head slightly and considered him. "You first," she said finally, her voice hushed but still amused.

"Why?"

"You show me yours…"

"What?"

She laughed again. "Didn't you ever play that? You show me yours and I'll show you mine?"

Rufus grinned. "Not until I was fourteen."

Jace frowned for a moment, seemingly perplexed. A second later she pursed her lips disapprovingly and wrinkled her brow, giving Rufus a new found appreciation of the stern schoolmarm fantasy. "Not like that!" she said. "When you were a kid, I mean." Rufus moved a little closer, enjoying the way Jacinta's breathing immediately became more labored. Cause and effect was one of his favorite games.

"No," he said, edging closer. "My interaction with other children was extraordinarily limited and highly supervised. Besides, I wasn't taught to share my toys." Finally, finally, they were flush and he was inches away from dark brown eyes surrounded by thick black lashes. She made a sort of humming noise and he looked down to lips that had occupied far too many of his thoughts in the last two days. She took a breath to speak which caused her breasts to press against his chest. Rufus suppressed an approving groan.

"No one ever taught you to share?" she breathed. He shook his head slowly, not bothering to hide his smile. "Oh," she whispered as he inclined his head. "That explains a lot."

"Doesn't it…" Rufus murmured, leaning forward.

Years of unexpected occurrences had left Rufus with not only an almost preternatural ability to sense trouble, but the reflexes needed to act on that insight. By the time Reno entered the room Rufus had already moved back a good two feet from Jacinta. Reno flashed them a glance and strode in, talking animatedly into his PHS. Rufus made sure his face was expressionless, his breathing even and calm.

Jacinta wasn't as quick to react to her friend's appearance but she was skilled enough in the art of prevarication to keep her relaxed smile on her face. Something told her that Reno wouldn't react well to the knowledge that she and his boss had been… whatever they had been doing. She wasn't sure she really wanted to think about it actually.

But Reno wasn't a Turk for nothing. Even as he spoke to with his irate quasi-girlfriend Reno was taking in little details. The easily discernable glow to Jacinta's cheeks, the way Rufus's expression was just a hint too placid. Hell, the fact that Rufus was out of his chair at all. "Yeah babe," He said to Yuffie absentmindedly as she continued ranting in his ear. "Yeah, definitely a conspiracy, you got us there." He flicked a glance at Rufus. The other man met his gaze but really, that meant nothing. Rufus could look you straight in the eye while perpetrating any number of crimes. It was normally one of things Reno really admired about his boss.

Right now however, it was less admirable and more annoying. Reno and his employer were rarely at serious cross purposes so Rufus' tendency to categorize the world as 'mine', 'soon to be mine' and 'not worth having but I might acquire it later just in case' was rarely an issue. But Jace wasn't a business or a trophy. She was a cool girl with a gratifyingly dirty mind and a relatively high alcohol tolerance and he didn't care to see her get involved with Rufus 'chew 'em up and spit 'em out' Shinra. Add in the fact that he had no intention of explaining to Reeve or Yuffie how Jace ended up doing the devil's business with the devil himself and his incentive to nip this in the bud was high.

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_**Please review!   
**_

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	12. Wherein it hits the fan

**_All the profitable ones belong to Square Enix._**

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_Oh my loyal few, what can I say except I'm sorry for the delay? Well, that and give love to my ever patient and wonderful beta. I aimed for a bit of length here, thank you for your forebearance!_

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…_But I think I get a bit confused  
Am I seducing or being seduced?_

_The 13th – The Cure

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_

"Here."

Reno strode over to Jace and handed her the phone. She took it gingerly and sent him a worried look. "The White Rose of Wutai wishes to speak to you," the Turk said with unmitigated relish. He didn't particularly enjoy bearing the brunt of his princess's wrath, but he was more than happy to unleash her on others. Right now it was especially fitting because Yuffie was ranting about Rude and Reno's failure to safeguard Jace from "Rufus, that over dressed spawn of a tonberry". Reno had spent the entire ride up to his boss's office swearing up and down that there was nothing to worry about. Jace didn't like stiffs and Rufus liked his dates bubble- headed and photogenic. Reno carefully neglected to mention that Rufus had been known to like them crafty and wearing blue suits too; no reason to borrow trouble at this stage.

And damn it, he was actually pretty sure that he'd called this one. Rufus was too controlling and Jace was too stubborn for them to get together… or at least, so he'd assumed until now. "Believe me babe," he'd stated with complete confidence while exiting the elevator and striding toward Rufus's office, "Tseng'll put on a tutu and dance across Tifa's bar before those two get it on."

Yuffie of course, had called him a liar and then a lot of other words princesses weren't supposed to know and hell if she hadn't been right. _Never underestimate the power of hormones_ he thought as he sized up his boss. Reno fought down the crazy urge to ask to borrow Rufus's phone so he could call Tifa, because if Tseng was in a tutu tripping the light fantastic on the bar over this whole thing with Rufus, and Jace, Yuffie be damned, he _needed_ to be there. Or at least make sure someone was getting pictures… and video… _Hey_, his mind yelled, _focus!_

Reno redirected his attention to his boss, half expecting the man to be on his way back to what the Turk knew for a fact was a very comfy chair. But Rufus was standing there, looking at him calmly, waiting to see what the red-head would do. _Shinra Strategy 101: Let the other side show their hand first._ Another time, another place, Reno would have just sauntered over to the couch and set about making a nuisance of himself but now wasn't the time. It was best to deal with Rufus first because he was the more dangerous party, and that would be best accomplished while Jace was being read the riot act by Yuffie.

"Soooo…" Reno drawled.

Rufus quirked his lips and replied calmly,

"Yes?"

"You okay? You look a little flushed." Reno watched in unholy satisfaction as a faint bit of red bloomed on Rufus' cheeks. Contrary to popular belief, Rufus could and would blush. The nifty thing was that he was more likely to do it around his bodyguards. The flush was almost immediately followed by tightened lips and narrowed eyes. Rufus could be made to feel embarrassed, but he heartily resented it and tended to be good and bitchy afterwards to remind everyone what a scary bastard he was. Gleefully aware of this little quirk, Reno elected to twist the knife a bit.

"Yeah," he said, as he stepped a little bit closer and resisted the urge to leer, "You look hot." The trick was to present the perfect mix of casual and concerned. "So was that what she was doing? Checking your temperature?"

The Turk had a moment to enjoy watching Rufus stiffen and the fire light in his eyes before the other man stiffly replied,.

"By all means Reno, please get your suspicions off your chest." Rufus's voice was so cold kids could ice skate on it, and if his posture got any more rigid, he'd shatter.

"I didn't _say _I had any suspicions boss," Reno drawled.

"Don't be any sillier than you have to be, alright?" Jace's voice was a study in aggrieved patience. Reno turned to retort only to realize that she was still on the phone with Yuffie and the outburst had been directed there. There were another few moments of silence on Jace's end and then Jace spoke again, her exasperation clear.

"Look, I realize the image of Rufus Shinra as a professional despoiler of innocents is one you cherish but… Yuffie. Yuffie. _Yuuuuuffie…._" Reno winced in sympathy. Even he still made the mistake of pausing to take a breath while arguing with the princess. Doing so was folly though because she would never let you have the floor again if she could help it; as far as Reno had been able to tell, she had mastered the art of never having to breathe while moving her mouth. _"__If only we could put those powers to use for my benefit… yeah… right, back to the situation at hand!"_

He turned back to Rufus to find the other man watching Jace pace up and down as she made repeated attempts to actually participate in the conversation. Rufus' eyes swung back to his almost immediately, but Reno had already seen far more than he wanted to. The fact that Rufus was so easily distracted, even temporarily, from his royal snit meant he was already far too interested in Jace. That didn't bode well for anyone, most of all a certain Turk who didn't know when to keep his personal life and professional life happily separate.

"Hell," Reno muttered. Rufus caught the muttered curse and drew himself right back up again, offended as all get out and ready to make the Turk seriously regret opening his fool mouth. Reno's lips peeled back in a parody of a smirk while he mentally scrambled for a method of appeasement. _The trick here is not to tell Rufus 'no'._ That word had been known to send both Rufus and his fat git of a father into towering rages. No Shinra could countenance the idea that they weren't always clearheaded enough to make the right decision. Then again, this particular decision wasn't exactly wrong for Rufus, just for Reno. _And Jace too, when it me down to it… but mostly for me, because while Jace is crying on Yuffie and Tifa's shoulders, Reeve will be busy deciding how best to carve me up into lunch-sized portions._

The key here was tact, or at least the Reno version thereof, which involved an appeal to the stiff-necked pride that kept Rufus from doing any number of little things he might otherwise consider appropriate. Rufus loathed appearing out of control with a deep and abiding passion. While sleeping with your secretary wasn't necessarily humiliating in and of itself, the situation certainly lent itself to humiliating rumors. Worst of all, the whole thing would be cliché. It smacked of an entirely too casual way of doing things; it harkened back to the reign of the previous Shinra scion.

Not that Reno would say that _exactly_. It was only in the most desperate situations that one should even contemplate raising the specter of Shinra Sr., and only Tseng had ever effectively wielded the weapon that was the phrase "Your father would have approved". Even _he_ had had his eyebrows singed off doing it. The flames of Rufus' full wrath were not to called down lightly. Then again, even the greatest bonfire died down eventually, and while Reno's place with Rufus was as sure as anything in life, his place with Yuffie was no such sure thing. End of the day, he was still a Turk, and Rufus came first. However, that didn't mean he wasn't willing to roll his boss a bit for his soon-to-be girl, especially if it was in defense of a friend.

"Hell, boss, you know I'm just giving you guff," Reno smirked, and then reflexively winced as Rufus raised an eyebrow. Hanging out with Yuffie often meant hanging out with Tifa and sometimes the kids. _Guff? Stupid Marlene and her contagious little girl vocab…_ _easy, gotta prove I'm still cool… _

As he moved over to the desk and rested a hip against it, Reno continued, "You know I don't interfere and I don't ask questions so long as I'm sure you're not gonna end up shot or poisoned or whatever."

"That's a damned dirty lie and you know it!" Jace's exclamation was followed by an impressive growl. Reno turned to regard her for a moment and turned back to Rufus with a grin which drooped only slightly when he saw that the boss was seating himself behind his desk.

Reno waited for the other man to look up and fix him with his patented 'unflappable and I know it' expression before allowing himself to be pleased at the success of his little scheme to placate Rufus.

"So yeah, whatever… I have to say boss, I envy you." Rufus's ears perked up almost visibly as the Turk adopted a slightly wistful tone.

"_Really_. You've said repeatedly the princess was quite the handful." Rufus' voice was assiduously neutral meaning he was reassessing the direction of the conversation.

"Well boss, I've got two hands." It was a long shot, hoping to lead Rufus off the scent that way, but it was extra insurance in case the following maneuver didn't work. "But that ain't the point. Nah, I meant it's gotta be great having a set up like this. If Yuffie was my secretary, I'd be taking long lunches, if you catch my drift." _Insert ingratiating chuckle here and look out at the skyline with a combination of pensiveness and lechery._ "Oh yeah, there'd be lots of closed door dictation. I'd prove the rumors true every day of the damn…"

Turk instincts are wonderful things. By the time he realized he was moving, Reno had already whirled around and snatched his phone out of mid-air. Jace didn't seem surprised that he caught the projectile before it connected with his head, only disappointed.

"We've been instructed," she said in that icily pleasant tone women seemed to save for just such occasions, "to make haste to Yuffie's apartment." She smiled tightly, and by the Planet, Reno hadn't had any idea that her lips could thin out like that. "Reno, sweetie, can I hitch a ride?"

He nodded automatically, answering, "Sure… I'll just call Tseng to make sure he's on his way up..."

"Oh no," Rufus's voice was so agreeable it was toxic. "Don't worry on my account. I was going to head down to my floor anyway, and if I'm not safe there… well, then where would I be? I'll just ride the elevator down with you shall I?"

Reno looked over at his boss and found himself wondering if now was the time to take Reeve up on his standing offer of employment at the W.R.O. Rufus' eyes promised that this little heart to heart was going to cost the Turk a packet. _Damn, not subtle enough._ He swung his gaze to Jace and fought the urge to back away from eyes gleaming with unholy fire. _Just how long was she off the phone?_ Swallowing hard, Reno headed toward the door. He threw cautious glance behind him, and noted that, though both Jace and Rufus were following him, they were keeping a more and respectable distance from each other. _Whatever,_ he thought grimly. _They can roast me Gongagan style as long as it keeps them out of each other's pants. _

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Rude didn't normally mind being the agony aunt in the group because it kept him in the know and out of trouble. He didn't even have to offer any substantial advice usually; he just let who ever was speaking talk themselves around to the solution they wanted in the first place. Then they'd call him a great listener and, if they were Reno or Elena, buy the first round. This week had stretched even his patience to the limit, however, and he had yet to receive any sort of liquid compensation. Yuffie was mad at Jace and Jace was mad right back. Rufus was also angry at Yuffie and everyone was ticked off at Reno, who had taken to snarling at anyone who so much as made eye contact with him and muttering about how unfair it all was. On top of all that, Elena kept finding excuses to pop up to the top floor and look in on Jace. Rude knew it wasn't because Elena was interested in helping out the new girl. Elena was keeping an eye on Jace, likely because of the infamous clothes incident.

In between Elena practically leaping out of closets, his partner acting as a glare magnet, work duties, and recent late night assignations with a certain gorgeous ex-terrorist bartender, Rude was one tired bodyguard. Tseng had assured him that the day was swift approaching when he would approach Rufus with the idea of adding new Turks. Rude was starting to seriously contemplate quietly pestering his leader about the subject. After all, the newbies were pretty much ready to go. Tseng had culled his favorites from the Elite Security Department over a year ago. They'd been checked over, trained, tested, re-checked, beaten with sticks, made to dance the hokey-pokey and whatever else the Head Turk deemed crucial to their training. All that was left now was to remind Rufus that he'd authorized Tseng to create an Elite among the Elite, and wouldn't it just be simpler to call them Turks? After that there would be the initial upheaval of watching the newbies in the field, making sure they were really up to snuff and all that, but then... then Rude, Reno, Elena and even Tseng could take some time off. Go on vacations. Maybe take a certain brunette bombshell on a little trip to Costa Del Sol...

Rude stifled a yawn and unobtrusively shifted his. He'd been at the bar last night as soon as it closed; he liked to be useful and if he got there early enough, he could help with the dishes and those few little tasks that always came up at the last minute. That and help any friendly drunks out the door. Not that Tifa wasn't more than capable, but Rude still liked to do his part. And Tifa did that adorable blushing thing whenever he tossed some grabby jerk onto the sidewalk. Now Rude didn't mind getting that sweetly grateful look, but it made him more than a little annoyed at Strife and the rest of her male friends. Sure, Tifa was a weapon in and of herself, but didn't they understand that women like to be offered help now and again, help they didn't have to ask for?

_Then again_, Rude thought, as he fought down a stupid grin, _their lack of observation is working to my advantage._ Speaking of lack of observation, it was a good thing that Reno was far too distracted to notice that his partner was in alt. Seeing Tifa on a regular basis without a herd of glowering older brother wannabes, or even a couple of inquisitive kids hanging around, was everything Rude thought it would be. Tifa knew how to read a silence and what was more, they could be silent together. Not from a lack of things to talk about, but just because each enjoyed the other's presence.

_And that right there_, Rude thought wryly, _is part of why I never made a move before_. He tended to devolve into sap where she was concerned and he'd been worried that any attempt to ask her out would turn her off completely. Point of fact, it likely would have taken him another six months to a year to even hint at anything. Instead, his partner and best friend had, all unknowingly, paved the way for Rude's current happiness.

It hadn't started out looking like anything good was going to happen. Rude had just finished sparring with an enthusiastic newbie when he'd received a call from Reno. His partner's request was innocuous enough; would Rude mind giving he and Jace a ride to Yuffie's? The tenor of Reno's voice made a more subtle request. _Come with me. Save me._ Rude was sympathetic but unless he heard gunshots in the background, his partner was on his own. First because Reno was rarely in trouble that he hadn't stirred up in the first place and second because Rude wasn't in a position to help at the moment. His shift guarding Rufus was due to start in twenty minutes and would last until the next morning, a fact with which he knew his partner was acquainted.

"Don't worry about it, man!" Reno had said, his forced joviality a painful thing to hear. "Rufus is staying in tonight, remember? Tseng and Elena are right down the hall and the building is going to lock down in an hour anyway and the E.S.D teams will be patrolling." _Translation:_ _Please, please, please don't make me go alone._ Rude sighed.

"Did you clear this with Tseng and Rufus?"

"Everybody's here but you, man! Rufus and Jace and Tseng and Elena… we're all here at Elena's place, waitin' on you!" Another slightly manic laugh followed that daunting pronouncement. Rude grunted an affirmative and hung up, but not before hearing Reno's relieved sigh. As he headed to the showers, the bald man mentally laid out the most likely scenario. Somehow his partner had managed to tick off either Yuffie or Jace or probably both, and somehow managed to anger Rufus as well. Whether he'd offended them separately or as a group was irrelevant. Either way, Reno was in deep trouble and was probably hoping that Rude's presence would provide him with, if not complete safety, enough cover to head for the hills if necessary. _Such is__the joy of our partnership._ Rude smiled a little as he turned on the hot water.

After a brief shower, Rude took the elevator up to Rufus's floor. Actually it wasn't just the boss's domain; all the Turks had individual quarters there. Reno and Rude lived elsewhere, though, partially because it meant that they couldn't all be taken out in one fell swoop.

"Not to mention," Reno had said ages ago as he pored over apartment listings, "Living here is like living with your parents. Sure, you're laundry's always folded and stuff but it also means your mom knows what time you get in at night and there's never any of the stuff you bought left because someone else ate it all, you know?" Rude had agreed with him then and still did. At first living together with his coworkers and his boss had been almost fun but by the time he and Reno had moved out, things had been getting ridiculous. In terms of sheer internecine weirdness, few things beat four Turks and one Shinra living and working cheek by jowl.

Rude exited the elevator and headed toward Elena's suite. As soon as he opened the door, he heard his partner. Reno was talking loud and fast and Rude could practically picture the redhead edging toward the door. "... be here any minute. _Rude_!" Reno all but leapt off the couch and scrambled towards him. "Just in time! Well, we're gonna head out, don't wait up."

While Jace stood up slowly and made her goodbyes, Rude carefully looked over the rest of the room. Elena was glowering at Reno, but that was more or less par for the course. Tseng knew something was up and was trying to decide how best to get the desired information without damaging his creditability as the peacemaker of the group. Neither Jace nor Rufus would look each other in the eye, but both seemed determined to glare Reno's flesh off his bones. Rude simply nodded to the room in general and waited by the door, not even bothering to walk fully into the room. Reno all but ran out into the hallway and moved with rare speed towards the elevator, his key card already in hand.

When Jace passed, Rude endeavored to catch her eye, but she seemed focused on some far distant object. Rude sent Tseng a curious gaze and received a slightly exasperated one in return, then shut the apartment door and followed in Jace's wake. The entire trip, from the wait for the elevator to the drive until they pulled up in front of Yuffie's apartment building, occurred in silence. The calm before the storm had rarely meant more to Rude without a WEAPON looming on the horizon.

Though no one had spoken, Reno and Jace had been trading increasingly unfriendly looks, something of a feat considering that Jace was sitting in the front passenger seat and had not deigned to turn around. By the time they pulled up in front of Yuffie's artsy little apartment building both Jace and Reno looked ready to commit bloody and vicious murder. The deep silence that had followed them from the Shinra building clung so tightly that Rude mentally braced himself for the shock knocking on Yuffie's door would no doubt cause.

It was a greater shock when the door flew inward before he landed the first knock. Yuffie swept them all with the same gimlet eye and jerked her head to indicate that they should enter. He looked over the badly controlled chaos that was the princess's apartment, and reflected that magpies had nothing on the White Rose of Wutai. He headed to the kitchen, intent on checking to see if by happy chance Yuffie had knocked over a liquor store.

"Hello."

Rude stopped short on the threshold of the surprisingly organized kitchen. Tifa stood in front of the sink, measuring powder into mugs. In the dim light of the wall lamp attached to a nearby cabinet she seemed to glow slightly. It was all Rude could do not to groan. _How perfect can one woman look?_ he thought and wished that he could come up with something witty, something wise and something at least marginally better then the next thing he did.

"Hmmn." And then he adjusted his tie.

_Go you stud!_ his internal Reno crowed, but Tifa just smiled slightly and gestured to the mugs in front of her.

"No matter where I am, I end up serving drinks. Hey, would you be a dear and grab the kettle off the stove? The water in it should still be warm and I want to get the cocoa out there before they start talking. Chocolate is supposed to help people feel…" she paused and frowned slightly. "More reasonable. At least, that's what my father always said. Maybe I better add more to Reno and Yuffie's cups…."

Rude nodded and moved forward to pick up the kettle. A companionable minute was spent with Rude pouring and Tifa stirring. After he finished distributing water, Rude ferried three mugs out to the living room and studiously ignored the fulminating looks being thrown around. He stepped back into the kitchen and found Tifa holding out a mug of cocoa. She smiled at him and then lifted her cup to her lips. Rude, bemused, did the same and took a sip. He raised his eyebrows at the unmistakable undertone of brandy and sent Tifa a surprised look. She shrugged and took another sip before lowering her mug. "Don't worry, it's a little something just for us. I thought not only did we deserve it, we'd likely need it. Ready to face them?" she grinned. Rude fell for her just that little bit harder and somehow managed to nod.

Two and a half hours later, Rude wished he'd thought to ask for more liquor. That cocoa had had less than half a shot in it, enough to enhance the flavor but hopelessly inadequate to the task of getting him drunk enough to enjoy the grudge match taking place in front of him. Yuffie, Jace and Reno had been at it nonstop, pretty much from the moment he and Tifa exited the kitchen.

Jace had fired the opening salvo by asking where the hell Yuffie thought she got off telling other people who to avoid dating. "Considering your taste, I mean," she'd sneered while glaring at Reno. Rude could admit that Jace had a point, in that Yuffie was, however erratically, dating a Turk. And from a purely voyeuristic standpoint, it was interesting watching Yuffie rear back, the picture of offended dignity while Reno just brindled like a wet cat.

Reno returned fire by not so subtly calling Jace a star fucker. Yuffie called the other woman 'naive and ungrateful' before announcing that Jace would thoroughly 'deserve whatever future shame and misery Rufus brought on her'. Of course at this point, Reno jumped in to defend the President so he and Yuffie went at it for a while before Jace came out of her corner swinging.

Every so often Reno would reference Rude or Yuffie would call on Tifa for confirmation, but really, neither Rude nor Tifa were there to participate. They were there to witness the discussion and if necessary, keep Yuffie from breaking out the conformer, Reno the E.M.R. and Jace from just flinging any knick knacks that came to hand. The only time their presence was truly noted was if they tried to leave.

"Hold on, partner," Reno snarled while pacing in front of the window. "I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss Jacinta's explanation of how she's not a petty bitch." And then ten minutes later Jace would tell Tifa to sit down so that she wasn't "knocked over the tidal wave of self-righteous bull coming from the pipsqueak princess."

Rude was mentally balancing his check book and Tifa's eyes were starting to glaze over when an alarm sounded. For a moment there was perfect silence while everyone in the room attempted to locate the sound. Rude realized it was coming from the coat hung over the back of the chair he was sitting in. He looked up to see Tifa crossing the room, a relieved smile on her face. She rummaged about in her coat for a bit, retrieved the phone and turned to the room.

"I have to go," she said as she deactivated the alarm. Her tone was apologetic but the look on her face said she'd just won an all-expenses-paid vacation to the Golden Saucer or something like it. Yuffie made a protesting noise, but Tifa ignored it as she grabbed mugs and headed to the kitchen. When she reemerged she cast a considering glance over the room and then seemed to mentally shrug. "Rude, could you give me a lift home? Yuffie brought me and it seems like…" She struggled for words for a moment before adding "Things don't seem… resolved," she finished lamely and hurried toward her coat. Rude didn't need to be asked twice; he was up and holding out Tifa's coat for her almost immediately.

"But Tif…" Yuffie's tone could best be described as petulant. "You haven't told Jace what a dumb idea hooking up with El Diablo Shinra is."

Tifa shot Rude a grateful look as she buttoned her coat before responding to Yuffie in quelling tones. "And I'm not going to. She's an adult, you two. You don't have to like _everything_ she does."

Yuffie and Reno both snorted and then glared at each other. "Look Tifa," Reno said slowly. Rude made a mental note to have a discussion with his partner later about the condescension that was creeping into his voice.

"Jace is an adult and that's all well and good, but you should know as well as anybody that Rufus is… well, he's bit more of a problem then your run- of- the- mill panty hound. He's always playing the angles, you know, always getting things how he likes them. He likes her now, but when it comes to romance he has the attention span of a goldfish."

"And yet you decided to drop her into his lap, you underfed, over processed, dyed in the wool _twit_!" The princess had a point, Rude thought as he and Tifa edged toward the door. _Then again, despite his sometimes uncanny insight into people, Reno isn't a prophet. How was he to know Rufus would take a shine to Jace? With the exception of the Turks, Rufus generally ascribes__d__ the old adage about shitting where you eat… and Jace is nice and all, but so __are any number of girls that Rufus meets. None of them __even came close to causing all this._

"Hey!" Reno rounded on Yuffie, intent on answering her latest insult. "This color is all natural, which you would know by now if you weren't such an uptight little brat…"

"The fact that it's natural is NOT a good thing you, you… _jerk_!"

Rude blinked and then mentally shrugged. They had been yelling at each other for hours now, so he wasn't surprised that they were running low on creative invective.

"Whiney wannabe ninja!"

"Cheap softheaded moron!"

"Softheaded?! Oh it's all hard, baby, don't you worry about that."

"So you admit you're hard- headed? Well, they say admitting you have a problem is the first step…"

"SHUT UP!"

The combatants turned towards Tifa, wearing identical expressions of shock. "Whoa Tifs," Yuffie said slowly. "I didn't even know you could do that."

Reno nodded. "I'm impressed," he said, sounding much younger than he was.

Tifa blushed but refused to be distracted.

"Look, I know that you're both trying to look after Jace, and it's sweet of you, really it is. But she's been gone for the past ten minutes and you didn't even notice."

Reno and Yuffie blinked in tandem and looked around. They avoided looking directly into Tifa's eyes and ended up staring at Rude as if Jace was hiding behind him. Rude was unfazed. If they hadn't noticed a full grown woman silently grabbing her things and hightailing it, he wasn't going to feel bad about not alerting them during the event.

"I have to get back to the kids. Look, just… just try not to make it so that by being with Rufus she's proving a point. You're her friends, not her parents, and she shouldn't have to rebel against you. If things don't work out… and I'll agree with you, I don't think they will… that's when she'll need people to be there for her." Tifa sighed heavily at Yuffie and Reno's mutinous expressions before turning to Rude. "Ready to go?"

Rude grunted his affirmative and followed Tifa to the door. He paused to stare at Reno for a second, doing his level best to impress some common sense on the man, but didn't bother to hold out much hope. _It hasn't worked yet but I live in hope._ Stifling a sigh, he nodded to Yuffie and followed Tifa out the door. In the yellowish light of the hallway, she looked rather tired and her expression fell further as Reno and Yuffie started going at it again before the apartment door was fully closed. Nonetheless, she mustered up a commiserating smile for him and Rude let himself bask in it for a moment before leading the way down the hallway.

_And that_, Rude thought as he shifted slightly to the left in front of Rufus's door, _was the start of just about the best week of my life._ Tired he may be, but that was a small price to pay to be in the good books of his dream woman. _Now, if things would just calm down around here…

* * *

**Please reveiw!**  
_


	13. Discovery

**_The profitable ones are not mine._**

* * *

**_I don't even know what to say except that I'm very sorry it took so long. My gratitude to my long suffering beta and to Veh, who wielded the sharp stick of author guilt at the right time. Hopefully this was worth waiting for and yes, the next bit is in the works. There are two songs this time because they both seemed appropriate._**

**_ Again, sorry about the delay! _**

* * *

_I noticed your eyes are always glued to me_  
_Keeping them here_  
_And it makes no sense at all…_

_…I guess I'm dreaming again_  
_Let's be more than this_

_Crush Crush Crush - Paramore  
_

_Think twice before you touch my girl._  
_Come around I'll let you feel the burn._  
_Think twice before you touch my girl._  
_Come around, come around,_  
_No more._

_Think Twice – Eve_ 6

* * *

_Rufus looked at his feet. He was __moving forward; he could tell when he looked at the walls, but his feet seemed to remain stationary. It was things like this that always clued him in to the fact that he was dreaming. Dreams were like memories played forward; little details were distorted or lost altogether. He'd had a conversation with Reno about it once when the redhead had been drunk enough to be quiet and contemplative along with him. "I wouldn't run around telling people that, boss - make 'em think you're freakier than they already do." The Turk's words were no less earnest for the fact that they were slurred. Rufus could have told him that he already knew to whom he could reveal even that small, seemingly innocuous part of himself. Instead he had smiled slightly and went back to watching the sun set over Junon._

_Ru__fus was at his office door now. The panel opened before he touched it; next he knew he was gliding toward his desk. A moment ago, it had seemed like morning, but now the sky was dark and the lights of Edge glowed softly through the plate glass windows. The lights were off in his office except for a conveniently placed lamp that lit up his desk and the surrounding area. And there, bathed in the buttery glow of the lamp, seated on his desk was Jacinta. Jace. Wearing nothing but a clingy, semi-sheer swathe of fabric that artfully revealed her smooth shoulders and bare legs. Contemplating a bowl of fruit, she selected the ripest, fullest looking peach Rufus had ever seen and slowly, so slowly, bit into it. _

_He stopped __just outside the pool of lamplight and watched with rapt attention as she relished the bite of fruit. Her tongue ran over her lips, her throat worked and her eyes closed in what seemed to be bliss. Then, with a low, drugging laugh, she moved to deal with the peach juice covering her hand and running down her slender wrist. Setting down the dripping peach, she raised her hand to better to lick delicately at the wet trail. Starting with the drop that had made it furthest down her arm she laved her skin, giving each finger individual and dedicated attention. The entire time she seemed oblivious to Rufus who suddenly found himself without his coat. Jace gave a little sigh and looked back to the fruit bowl, paying Rufus no heed. _

_Next up was a strawberry, round, ripe and a deeper red than could ever be found in nature. Jace contemplated it for a moment before setting it against her plush lips and pushing it between them, an action that was accompanied by a concupiscen__t groan. Rufus decided now was the time to divest himself of his outer vest. _

_While__ she nibbled on cherries, broke open a fig and molested the luckiest banana on the Planet, Rufus divested himself of layers of clothing; he was down to his shirt and absently fiddling with the top button of his trousers, waiting to see what fiendish torment she could devise with a peeled orange as a prop. But instead of biting into the fruit she finally looked at him. _

"_Is that it?" she __asked, voice rich with amusement and exasperation. "You're just going to stand there, strip and drown in your own drool? This is the man that other men fear?" _

_Was it possible to blush in a dream? Apparently so. The rush of blood to Rufus's cheeks lessened the sensual spell by quite a bit though it was not dissipated entirely. He cleared his throat__ to stall for a moment, a habit he never normally allowed himself and spoke. "I was wondering what I was supposed to gather from your… display. Are you trying to tell me something about my eating habits?"_

_Jace smiled and tilted her head. "Silly Rufus," she __sighed. "__I'm__ not trying to tell you anything. This is your dream. The question is - what are __you__ trying to tell yourself? I mean, you probably should eat more fresh fruit but…." The almost-empty fruit bowl disappeared and Jace gracefully swung her legs up onto the desk; Rufus noticed that the swathes of fabric previously covering her curves had shrunk to the size of a bath towel. A very small, very thin bath towel that had also, somehow, become almost completely transparent….Somehow I don't think that's meant to be the takeaway message here," she purred. _

_Rufus found himself __taking the few strides needed to reach the desk. That scrap of fabric protecting her modesty just kept getting smaller and he wasn't sure when he'd taken off his shirt but it wasn't there when Jace put her hand over his heart, her palm warm against his skin. She looked up at him, brown eyes gleaming. "My subconscious isn't very subtle," he murmured as he leaned in. _

_Jace smiled and busied herself undoing his __fly. _

"_It can't afford to be." Rufus found himself nodding absently in agreement as she pushed aside the front of his trousers. He watched, spellbound, as Jace put a hand through the opening of his boxers and gently pulled out his cock. Her grip, he noted, was exactly as he had suspected it would be, firm but not too much so. Jace began to stroke, slowly but with just the sort of pressure he liked, her long fingers being used to best advantage. Rufus allowed his eyes to slide shut for a moment… Suddenly, a blaring noise sounded directly in front of him. Rufus' eyes flew open and he looked up to see what appeared to be a slowly suffocating chocobo…  
_

Rufus owned an alarm clock with a strident alarm, because on the rare occasions that he did oversleep, he was very difficult to rouse according to Reno, the one who always seemed to pick the short straw when the time came. Generally, however, Rufus woke up well before his alarm and turning it off was one of his morning rituals. Unfortunately, even high priced alarm clocks can malfunction. Interrupted in the middle of the best handjob he'd received in a while by an unfamiliar noise, he woke up convinced he was under attack by something other than his libido. So it was that at 3:45 a.m. Rufus found himself alone in bed with a raging hard on, pointing a large-caliber handgun at a clock that was sure that it was 4:45.

After the alarm was turned off, a few moments were spent checking the room before President Shinra realized that he didn't face any threats in the room besides bad luck and substandard craftsmanship. Making a mental note to have Tseng draft an angry letter to the manufacturer, Rufus uncocked his gun and slid it back under the pillow before contemplating his undaunted erection.

This wasn't the first time he had awakened from a dream involving his secretary in some setup straight out of those magazines Elena wouldn't admit to reading. The first time was after Jace's very first day; she'd been scantily clad with a gleam in her eye. Chalking it up as a normal reaction to pretty girl had been easy. True, she'd made more appearances than he might have expected, but he did see her often and she did have a way about her. _Who wouldn't be attracted to her? _

But now, several days later, Rufus was beginning to think he had a rather definite problem beyond his current physical condition. As he walked carefully toward the shower, he reviewed the last few days. After Reno had nearly walked in on their kiss the Turk had been unusually thin lipped with everyone. Rufus was morbidly curious about how Reno and Jace would act around each other afterwards, but they had gone to amazing lengths to avoid that situation coming to pass. Even without direct contact with the Turk, Jace had spent the past few days looking by turns tired, lost and angry whenever she thought no one was looking. She seemed oblivious to his occasional lingering glances, a state of affairs he preferred.

Rufus entered his shower stall and turned on the cold water. As he shivered under the icy blast, he considered how the more time he spent with Jace in the real world, the more she occupied his dreams - and yet, he found himself coming up with reasons for her to come into his office and stay there. She wasn't the prettiest girl he'd ever seen; there were plenty more women he would have looked at first. But he didn't think there was another woman he'd yet seen that he'd choose to look at longer. Jace was all long lines interspersed with curves in the right places. Breasts that sat high for their size and a round firm backside were matched with elegant arms, long fingers and slim, muscular legs. Jace tended to wear flats but every now and again she would saunter into the office in a pair of heels and her calf muscles would flex as she walked by. Rufus was fairly sure that she didn't like wearing heels though, because whenever he walked by, she hurriedly hid her bare feet under her desk.

Thinking about Jace's slower, more deliberate walk in heels was not helping Rufus little problem to deflate. He realized he had moved out of the direct spray and was slowly, almost gingerly, stroking himself. He was partially appalled at his distracted state and partially desirous of finishing what he had started. The image of Jace, sitting on his bed, slowly pulling off one high heel and then the other, before looking up at him expectantly, decided it.

The shower was switched to hot and Rufus stepped back under the spray, determined to do it but quickly. _Focus on Jace._ _Her lips, her breasts, her legs, her long fingers and the contrast of her brown skin as she wraps those fingers around my cock…._ That got him most of the way there, but what pushed Rufus over the edge was the other memories he'd hidden even from himself. Jace smiling that sly smile she occasionally flashed when she thought no one was looking. Her sarcastic sense of humor and wide eyed glee when she figured something out or was given a project that actually challenged her. The adorable, quickly hidden puckering of her lips when she was confused. The way she nibbled her lower lip when she was thinking…

The rush as he came was short, sharp and only moderately satisfying. Slumping against the tiled wall, he contemplated this unwelcome fact. _The law of diminishing returns rears its ugly head…_ His recent uptick in masturbation could be very simply explained, but his body didn't want self gratification - it wanted Jacinta Guerin. As Rufus reached for the soap, he pondered both that truth and the larger implications of the situation. The sexual attraction wasn't really the problem… ok, it wasn't the _main_ problem. If it had just been that, he would have just found himself a substitute or in extremis, he might have arranged for a convenient moment for them to 'be overcome by passion' in some safe location vetted by Tseng.

_The difficulty is, I don't want to just have an interlude. I am… somewhat fond… of Jace. She's far more tolerable than the grand majority of the people I come into contact with. _It was partially because of the connection to Reno no doubt; for all his faults, the other man was an excellent judge of character and would not allow someone he didn't trust near his boss. _Reno's trust, however conditional, is high praise._ _But even more that Jace has… a way about her._ Bold and careful by turns, she was interesting to watch.

As he stepped out of the shower, Rufus struggled to determine the exact quality that made Jacinta Guerin able to command his attention so completely when more accomplished, more comely and most importantly, more _appropriate_ women had failed. It was only after Rufus had toweled himself dry and completed his morning ablutions that an answer began to take shape.

_I am__ attracted to Jace because she is __interesting__._ _I want to know what she laughs to herself about, why she and Reno are avoiding each other and how she can stand to eat dry cereal._ None of these questions stemmed from a desire to use the information against her; instead he desired only to have the knowledge itself.

_What would Jace look like thrilled? Or crying? Or sleeping - or right before she came? Would she babble and close her eyes? Or would she be silent and look right at me so that I can watch her eyes haze over and her lips part?_ Rufus indulged that vision for only a moment, wary of his body's likely response. As he checked himself in the mirror before he began his day, there was only one question. _What to do about it? _

In a much less impressive part of town, at roughly the same time of the morning, Jace was lying in bed contemplating her ceiling while cursing Rufus and her long-dormant hormones. "This is _ridiculous_," she muttered as she rolled onto her side. _I have to get up in a few hours and I don't have time to fantasize about the epitome of a bad idea. Rufus is not a good option. Not. And you are __not__ that hard up. _A moment of depressingly honest thought later, she crossly punched her pillow.

_Okay__, you __are__ that hard up, but there are plenty of blond men out here. And plenty of them have perfectly lovely smirks. And have heard of the latest fashion innovations like colors and 'casual Fridays'. The man needs to be stripped down before he faints the next time he steps outside a building in August. Then again, he'd probably have Tseng shoot anybody that tried. A body would have to sneak up on him, like when he's at his desk - I'm sure Tifa has a Still materia lying around somewhere that I could borrow. Stroll in one day after he's finished his meetings, get him to stand up and then __bam__! He'd have to stand there while I stripped off his coat and vest – fast, before the Still wore off – and then he'd probably stare at me for a second or two before saying in that king-of-every-frickin'-thing voice, "You may continue."_

Jace rolled onto her stomach. _I sure as hell would! Shirt off, trousers open and I'd be able to see the crowning glory of the Shinra. I bet he's lovely all over, but there, __particularly__ perfect. Not too long, 'cause nobody likes it in the cervix. A little thicker than usual. Cut… or uncut? Eh, doesn't matter. I'd take him out of his… boxers? Boxers. I'd take him out and start slowly. Let him get an idea what the plan is. Then I'd stand up and go in for a kiss…_ It was then that she realized she was slowly rotating her hips and pressing her pelvis down on the bed. _Stupid hot Rufus Shinra,_ she mentally groused as she rose to make herself something to drink. Normally she would have just stayed in bed and had a little personal time, but that would have made three times in one night and she was starting to feel a little pathetic.

As she stood at the kitchen counter, mixing powdered chocolate and milk, Jace sighed heavily. The past week had been… well, tiring really. Tiring and annoying and frustrating. Yuffie was easy to avoid since she worked in another part of town; Reno, not so much. Jace couldn't decide if it was fortunate or not that the Turk seemed no more eager to talk to her than she was to him. She also couldn't tell if Reno was holding back because he was still mad, because she'd actually managed to hurt him, or what. He would hardly look at Jace and the couple of times they'd found themselves alone together on an elevator, Reno had studied the buttons as if they held the secrets of the Ancients. Being around Rude wasn't much better. Jace was pretty sure that he, at least, wasn't mad. But that didn't mean he didn't wash his hands of the bitchy stray who'd insulted his partner. Of course once Jace started thinking about _that_, it was one short step to what Tifa likely thought, and then it was back to whether Yuffie was _totally_ disgusted with her - or just sort of.

The biggest question, of course, was the blue-eyed demon himself. Rufus 'The Iceberg' Shinra seemed completely unconcerned by what had _almost_ happened. The day after their near-miss he'd been _exactly_ as calm, dismissive and distant as he had been the day she met him - no more, no less. Well, except for that _look_. Maybe she was paranoid or maybe it was wishful thinking, but Jace could swear that Rufus was thinking _something_… but what, she wasn't sure. Was he regretting having soiled himself with a plebian? Was he planning to ravish her as soon as he could figure out a way to avoid Reeve's wrath? "Or maybe I just have something stuck in my teeth", she muttered, energetically stirring the clumping powder into the steaming liquid.

The uncertainty, coupled with the stress of working in fairly close proximity to an oddly quiet Reno, an even more inscrutable Rude, a suspicious Elena and a potentially disapproving Tseng, let alone the clients, was wearing Jace down. She'd gained weight from all the calming hot chocolate, to the point that her custom made suits were strain at the seams a wee bit. Furthermore, her lower lip was drying out from the amount of time she spent worrying it; a nervous habit that seemed to make Rufus somehow annoyed – or maybe she was overreacting, and it was merely his paperwork being frowned at.

_A mind reader I am not__._ Taking a sip of cocoa, Jace frowned at her maudlin thoughts. _There's no reason to believe that the encounter was anything but a… an… aberration._ "And, it's not as if a relationship would go anywhere, anyways," she announced to her kitchen, hoping that saying it out loud would make her feel better. It didn't work._ The man is making my head hurt and I can't even complain about it. The Turks are out and so are Tifa and Yuffie. Ivy and the W.R.O. crew would have it on the front pages fifteen minutes after I talked to any of them, and Aunt Hypatia would just cluck her tongue and ask me if I'm taking 'precautions' before telling me that my generation didn't invent it - hers did. _Jace shuddered. She loved her aunt but had already learned the folly of discussing sex with her.

_No real use worrying about it__ anyway, since there are only five days left before I go back to the 'real world' of the W.R.O._ Jace sighed, sipped her drink and then shook herself a little. _Whether or not I've burned my bridges with Reno and the rest, I still have a job. I have other friends, even if I haven't talked to them in a while._ Grimacing, she resolved to call Rourke and the rest during her lunch hour the next day. Working at Shinra, even as a temp, had skewed her view of the world. It was easy to forget that life outside of the Turks and Ruf… President Shinra existed. But it did and it was time Jace remembered that. _Just a few more days and it all goes back to normal.  
_

_Later that morning__…_

Rufus looked up from the report regarding Tseng's pet project and smiled slightly. The Director was sitting in one of the chairs in front of Rufus's desk looking just the slightest bit uncertain. For Tseng that was the equivalent of madly batting his eyelashes, an image that amused Rufus immensely. Looking down at the dossier again, he was confident that Tseng had covered every angle. _I have no intention of countermanding his plan at this stage, but no harm in making him squirm a bit._

It _had_ taken Tseng a long time to get Rufus to consider expanding the Department of Administrative Research and even longer to find worthwhile candidates and train them to his satisfaction. But all the factors had finally come together and now the Director of the Turks had come before his employer to state his case. Specifically, Tseng was of the opinion that the six people whose files Rufus was currently examining were Turks in all but name and it was time to take that last official step.

Breaking the silence, he murmured, "You are becoming more visible again, sir, both because of your work spearheading alternative fuels and because the world has stabilized enough to be interested in what the rich and famous are doing. In order to provide you with optimum protection, it is imperative that you never be without fresh Turks who are able to provide the best protection and support. Reno, Rude and Elena are impressive but even they require rest."

Rufus smirked, noting that Tseng admitted to no such physical limitation for himself. Finally, he closed the file folder. "I trust your judgment and leave it to you to inform the new Turks today; have plans for a more formal investiture ready as soon as possible." Tseng nodded then gave his employer a questioning look. Rufus smiled. "I'll _also_ trust you to keep the informal welcoming ceremony… reasonable."

As he stood, Tseng bowed. "I'll do my best, sir, but it will be impossible not to invite Reno. Also," Tseng paused and gave Rufus a quick look, obviously gauging just how deep his boss's good mood ran. He seemed reassured by what he found and continued on, "Miss Guerin will be leaving us soon. Particularly in the light of the current climate, I have made space in your schedule for you to interview replacements for her position."

"The current climate?" Rufus repeated, keeping his tone even and his face politely attentive.

Tseng made the strategic decision to remain standing – in case a rapid retreat was required - as he replied, "One of the benefits of Miss Guerin's time with us has been that she is well liked by the staff." _Yourself chief among them_, he mentally added, though he didn't pause during his monologue. "That is no longer the case. It is hardly conducive to an efficient work environment to have the President's personal secretary hiding from his Turks, much less for any of the Turks to be similarly avoiding her; therefore it is inadvisable to extend her contract. Additionally, due to her temporary status, Miss Guerin's security clearance is very basic. To be blunt, President, work of a classified nature has been piling up. It would be advantageous to find a dedicated person capable of handling all aspects of the role as your personal secretary as soon as possible." Tseng resisted the urge to watch Rufus' hands in case he was reaching for his gun.

A few moments later, a sigh that would have been inaudible to a less experienced or less interested party reached Tseng's ears and Rufus spoke in oddly resigned tones. "Of course. If my schedule allows, I will meet the first candidate this afternoon."

Tseng relaxed infinitesimally and inclined his head. "Is two o'clock amenable to you, sir?" he asked. Rufus nodded, his eyes already on his computer, and Tseng took that as his cue to leave. Once the door was safely closed behind him, Tseng briefly contemplated mentioning to Jace that her replacements were going to be interviewed in the coming days. After a moment, he elected to say nothing and walked past her desk with only a faint nod of greeting. She smiled brightly in return before continuing with her work.

_Four__ days before Jace's departure…_

"So, how's it been going?" Ivy looked expectantly at the woman across the table.

Jace didn't meet the other woman's eyes, but she managed a sickly smile while pushing a noodle around her plate. "I hate alfredo. Don't know why I ordered it," she said after a long silence.

Ivy cleared her throat. "_Riiight_… are you okay, Jace? You've been kinda… spacey."

"You know how it is," she replied. "Things are tough all over."

Ivy raised an eyebrow. "Jace, sweetie, you sound like a depressed fortune cookie. And I don't know how 'things' are in the Shinra building – that's why I asked. You haven't been calling people or returning messages; Rourke and Maddie were about to stake out your apartment. Everyone back at the office is dying to hear the goods, so spill the beans, dearie - how the hell is it? What's it like working with the Turks? Is Rufus Shinra really that dishy up close? Do you get to ride in the limo? And how much did that suit cost, because it looks like a lot... speaking of which, do you get to keep the clothes? How much are they paying you? Come on! Spill!"

Jace sighed. "I'm sorry Ivy; I've just been really stressed. I've missed you guys and I'm sorry I haven't been in touch. As for work… um… let's see. The Turks are polite… _(__as if I were a stranger)_ and President Shinra is very attractive up close… (_and oh, have I been close!) _Sipping her water, she continued, "I've never been out of the building with the President and I honestly don't know the price of the clothes." _Actually I __do__ know, but if I give you a clue yo__u'll strip me naked, raid my apartment and sell the goods on the black market._

Before Ivy could ask any more questions, Jace hurried on. "I think I get to keep the suits because most of them were tailored. I'm not going to tell you how much I'm being paid, but I will take you and the rest of the crew out for drinks."

Ivy leaned back and smiled widely. "The fact that you're willing to pay our tab tells me that you're in the money. And tailored suits! Shame about the limo, though. I would love to hit the town dressed to the nines and meeting the kind of men who do business with Rufus Shinra. Talk about husbands on the hoof!"

Jace thought of the clients she had ushered into the office over the past week. "I don't think you'd like them, Ivy. Most of them put the 'old' in 'old money'. But I'll be sure to let Rourke know that if he dyes his hair grey and wears a suit, you're ready for double occupancy."

Ivy giggled. "Rourke is my sweetie, but they say it's just as easy to love a rich man as a poor one. Speaking of which, let me tell you what that fool did last Tuesday for dinner…"

Jace listened to the story of Rourke's ill-fated attempt at pot roast and laughed but her mind was on other things. _Loving must be easier than lusting,_ _because so far lusting has cost me both friends and sleep_.

_Three__ days to go…_

_Eew__. This is __exactly__ the sort of guy that I was describing to Ivy yesterday!_

Olaf Guntersson not only put the 'old' in 'old money', but also in 'dirty old man'. Practically from the moment he stepped out of the elevator, he had ogled Jace like she was wearing plastic wrap instead of a staid beige suit. It had been an act of will for Jace to turn her back on him in order to lead him into Rufus's office. Sure enough, he had taken advantage of the opportunity and pinched her behind.

Jace stiffened but did not pause or alter her speed. _I'm ignoring you, la la la_. Guntersson pinched her again and chuckled under his breath. Gritting her teeth, Jace lengthened her stride. _Stupid Shinra and his stupid huge office giving this stupid creepy git another chance to be stupid._ Showing Guntersson and his secretary to the chairs in front of Rufus's desk, Jace gave a passing moment's thought to the fact that Guntersson had a _male_ secretary. _Then again he likely couldn't keep a woman near him for money, let alone love. The old goat couldn't get laid in a monkey whorehouse with a banana hanging out of his..._ "Refreshments?" she sweetly inquired, praying for a 'no'.

"No, thank you," Guntersson said and Jace's smile relaxed. Without sparing Rufus a glance, she turned towards the door with the intention of making good her escape until Guntersson asked, "Your secretary won't be staying, Shinra?"

_No__, you low rent lounge lizard, she won't be staying. She will be in the bathroom trying to scrub 'lecher' out of the seat of this skirt. _

"Miss Guerin has other duties to attend to."

_You tell him__, Rufus! _

"Shame."

_On __you__, you pervert. _

"Would you prefer that she stay, Guntersson?"

_WHAT?_

"Well, I wouldn't want to keep her from anything crucial, but…"

"Miss Guerin?"

Jace ground her teeth and halted a few scant inches from freedom. Turning back to face the room at large, she resisted the urge to cringe when she found every eye on her. Tseng and Reno stood behind Rufus, as impassive as their boss. Guntersson's secretary Julian appeared terminally bored, while Guntersson himself was doing a bad job of concealing his avidity under a mask of polite inquiry. Had he directly asked her, Jace would have had no compunctions about making an excuse. However, Rufus had requested her presence, so she was stuck.

_Suddenly__, I feel like I'm a Summon; going where I'm called, will ye, nil ye. _Walking back across the room to Rufus's desk, she made sure to stay out of lecher-range. "Shall I take notes, sir?" she asked a tad too brightly. Rufus inclined his head and Rude brought a chair to the side of his desk. Once Jace was seated, he returned with a laptop, booted up and ready to go. _Joy,_ she thought as she plastered an attentive look on her face and positioned her fingers over the keyboard, _just… joy._

Two hours later, Jace was bored to tears listening to Rufus and Guntersson's verbal fencing over what was an extremely simple transaction. Guntersson owned land rich in mineral resources, some of which showed promise as alternative fuel sources. Rufus wanted to buy that land outright or, failing that, lease it for no less than five years. Guntersson was willing to sell the land, though he preferred that Rufus leased it. The sticking point was that, buy or lease, Guntersson wanted a cut of any profits the land might accrue. He desired these rights in perpetuity, or at least for the next couple of decades or so.

Jace struggled mightily against the desire to roll her eyes as these two titans of industry danced about the issue like middle schoolers trying to find out if their crush liked them or not. She dared a glance at Julian; he was typing with one hand and stifling a yawn with the other. A look at Rude and Tseng showed them to be seemingly unaffected. _Earplugs? _Jace mused before forcing herself back to the task at hand.

An agonizing forty-five minutes after that, Rufus and Guntersson were still at it. Jace had twice stealthily checked to ensure that she wasn't drooling from boredom, while keeping an eye on Julian, who had begun to list sharply to one side. Help arrived from an unexpected source.

"I'm parched and starved and other things I shouldn't have to be. Lunch, Shinra?" Guntersson boomed, not-so-gently shoving Julian upright.

Jace barely stifled the urge to shoot Rufus a pleading look. _Anything, anything that will shut you two up! _

Rufus ignored her as he considered his guest before nodding slightly. "I would be delighted. If I remember correctly, you enjoy steak. I know a restaurant famous for their meat." Guntersson leered and Jace would have sworn Rufus looked pained for a moment.

"Come on, ladies, let's go!" Guntersson cackled, clapping Julian on the back hard enough to nearly knock the younger man out of his chair before rising and striding toward the door. Julian shot a less-than-fond look at his boss's back before collecting himself and his laptop and following. Jace saved her work before jauntily closing the laptop in front of her and rising. She turned to face Rufus, smiling like she'd just won an all-expenses paid trip the Golden Saucer. "I hope you enjoy your lunch sir!" she chirped. _I wouldn't bet on it, considering who you're stuck with, but I will send positive thoughts your way! _

Rufus glowered at her for a moment before his features smoothed out and he rearranged some papers as he stood. "With you there to enliven the conversation, how could it not be pleasant?"

Eyes wide and mouth frozen in a grin, Jace took a moment to process her boss's statement. After a moment she decided that surely she must have heard him wrong. "I'm so sorry, I must have misheard you. Did you mean I'm going with you?"

Rufus walked around his desk and stopped in front of her. "Your hearing leaves nothing to be desired. I would appreciate your company."

Before Jace could formulate a polite response, Julian appeared at the door. "Mr. Guntersson," he drawled, eyes slowly sweeping from Rufus to Jace and back again, "will be waiting by the elevators. Shall I tell him to meet you at the restaurant?" Unbeknownst to each other, both Jace and Rufus took a moment to ponder how a man could sound so disinterested without sounding the least bit rude. Deciding it was some sort of natural gift, they looked at each other.

"Surely you wouldn't leave me alone with them." Rufus pitched his voice so low that Jace barely heard him. She raised an eyebrow and was met with the Shinra version of a pleading look, which was much heavier on the compulsion than it was on the plea. But still, it was an amusing image. _Behold Rufus Shinra, a titan, if not __the__ titan of industry, appealing to his lowly assistant for moral support in the face of boredom beyond bearing._ The very thought was absurd but there was a grain of truth to it. If Julian's blatant disinterest didn't get him, Guntersson's horrible sense of humor likely would. Plus, it might be possible to warn the waitresses to avoid Guntersson as they would a zolom. _I don't flatter myself that Rufus Shinra actually needs my support. But how can I turn him down? _

"We'll be along shortly," she stated loudly enough for Julian to hear. The man shrugged and ambled back out of the office. She looked back at a now smirking president. "I hope you know, sir," she said quietly to Rufus as she moved toward the door, "that I will be ordering _two_ desserts." _Stupid Shinra puppy dog eyes. With my luck, I'll have strangled myself with my napkin before we even get to the entrée, let alone dessert. _

_Heels again today. _After taking a moment to fix the image of Jace's initial move toward the door in his mind, smug grin still in place, Rufus took a moment to confirm that he and Tseng were thinking of the same venue. He left the other man to the business of arranging their table and followed his secretary, taking care to not quite catch up at first. She was, as usual, moving at a slower pace than normal in a pair of higher than normal heels. What was that phrase Reno had used on the princess? _I hate for you to go but I love to watch you leave._ If Rufus remembered correctly, Reno had recounted the story while nursing a bruised jaw, the cause of which the Turk refused to reveal but was easy to guess. He idly wondered what his secretary's reaction would have been to his thoughts as she'd approached his desk. For a moment he'd been overwhelmed by the images from his dreams. The admission would never be made outside of his head, but Rufus owed Guntersson for distracting him from a potentially embarrassing and highly public hard-on.

The memory of Guntersson's mishandling of Jace made Rufus grind his teeth. Guntersson was sadly mistaken if he thought that his actions had been overlooked. The negotiations had been conducted on partial autopilot as all the ways Shinra power could be used to torment the old coot were gone over in scrupulous detail. _He __will__ be called to account in due time, but at the present moment it makes things simpler for me to let the old bastard think he's getting away with something._

The fact that Guntersson _had_ gotten away with it was at once gratifying and annoying. However, the fact that Jace could comport herself correctly, even when mistreated, was important knowledge. But Rufus had a suspicion that Jace would have loved to have slapped the old lech's hand without a second thought - in fact he _dared_ Guntersson to try it when she was off the clock. With that in mind he had anticipated some sort of objection from her about joining their lunch party. Under different circumstances he would have left her behind, but Jace's presence provided several advantages. She was a distraction to Guntersson and therefore an advantage to him. _Plus you'll have someone worth looking at_, his mind helpfully supplied. _Ignore the somnambulist and the lech and it's almost like a date!_

Rufus frowned for a split second before out of habit his brow smoothed. It was true that a couple of days ago he had contemplated his next course of action regarding Jace. But what seemed so clear cut in the middle of the night was infinitely less so with the sun up. She was, after all, his secretary. _I can, and do, enjoy her company, but I'm still strategizing how best to set the scene without seeming like Guntersson - just with more hair_. Their interrupted kiss the other day had been the culmination of felicitous circumstance and he wasn't sure how best to replicate that while better controlling certain redheaded variables.

_You. Are. Stalling. A few days from now she goes back to the W.R.O. and__,__ if Reeve has anything to say about it, you'll never see her again. Stop waiting for the perfect lighting and __just __kiss the girl!_

The voice in his head might sound like Tseng, Rufus thought wryly, but it didn't always sound _like_ him. As he stepped into the elevator, he noted that Jace had all but wedged herself into the corner furthest from Guntersson, who was only barely concealing his leer. Rufus didn't so much insert himself between them as he casually happened to stand in such a way that Guntersson's view of Jace was almost entirely blocked. Everyone politely ignored how the older man's face fell as Rude pushed the button to start the elevator's descent and Rufus's inner dialogue continued.

_I am not stalling. __I'm just making sure that the situation is as well planned out as it can be before acting. _

_You want to banter a little and then sleep with the girl__, and then banter some more. How complicated a plan do you need besides locking your door this time? _

_I__'ll move when the time is right. In the mean time, this is __not__ a date, it is a business meeting and Jace would __not__ be joining us if her attendance did not provide certain advantages. _

_Were those the same advantages you were checking out on the way to the elevator? _

…_Just be quiet._

_S+S+S+S_

An hour and some odd minutes into the meal at the sort of restaurant that she could previously only dream of patronizing, the conversation had not gained any zest and Jace was seriously considering the merits of doing herself in with one of the pieces of silverware. _This has got to be what hell is like. Expensive restaurant, I'm all dolled up and with the most eligible bachelor on the Planet. _A hand suddenly appeared on her thigh._ And what am I doing? _Jace casually picked up her fork and examined hand, having been recently introduced to Mr. Fork's sharp tines, skittered away._ I'm fending off Father Time's horny younger brother._

Guntersson pouted slightly. "It's so cold in Midgar this season," he said, apropos of nothing in the current conversation. Rufus raised his eyebrow slightly at the odd comment before humming noncommittally and resuming his statement. And if he was fighting the desire to slip the safety off his rifle and shoot a potential business partner between the legs, who was to know? Silently seething that Guntersson had managed to position himself next to Jace and continued to harass her, Rufus took some comfort in his secretary's quiet but spirited defense. Noting that she was keeping a loose hold on her fork, he fought down a grimace. Guntersson was going to pay later but for now… hopefully Jace's next strike would draw blood.

Jace expanded her options. _Homicide or suicide, someone isn't making it out of this meal alive._ Widening her fake smile, she strove to look like she wasn't plotting carnage. Julian wasn't even doing that much. Boredom radiated from every inch of the man, a fact that didn't seem to bother Guntersson in the slightest. _If I cared, I might find enough energy to wonder about their relationship._

After debating with herself for a moment about whether it was worth the bother, Jace decided that she didn't really care if Julian was Guntersson's son, nephew, protégé or newspaper boy, she just wanted to leave. There had been a faint hint of excitement earlier when Guntersson's bodyguards met them at the restaurant, but once she'd looked them over and pegged them for the Turk knockoffs they were, the amusement of staring had paled.

When the battle of attrition that had been lunch finally wrapped up after two desserts that she couldn't even enjoy because of the stultifying atmosphere, their party headed for the exit. It was all Jace could do to not dance a little. A judicious bit of maneuvering had put most of the party between Guntersson and herself, making her a _much_ happier girl.

Preceded by his bodyguards, Guntersson exited the building, followed by Julian, Reno, Rufus, Jace and finally Tseng. Limousines were waiting at the curb and the groups began to split amongst polite goodbyes. After cheerfully waving to Julian as a fellow sufferer, her salute returned with a desultory flutter, Jace practically skipped toward the car.

"Hold on Shinra, I have a question about the…" Guntersson's voice stopped on a shocked exhalation. Jace turned around just in time to see Rufus flying towards her, as if he'd been knocked off his feet.

She had no time to brace before she was toppling over backwards onto the concrete sidewalk with her boss sprawling on top of her; there was a moment of shock before the pain started. Rufus had tried to avoid putting his entire weight on her but that just meant he'd landed more on her left side. Her back hurt, her head hurt and Jace just lay there, staring at the blue sky, hearing nothing more than the blood rush in her ears and trying to breathe through more pain than she'd felt in a long time.

"Stay down." Rufus leapt off of her a split second later and disappeared. Jace's ears decided to come fully back on-line and suddenly she could hear _everything_. Screams and gunshots and a faint crackling sound and then more screams and someone was _laughing_. Jace carefully turned her head, and seeing no immediate danger, rolled over and took note of her surroundings.

Tseng was crouched behind the open car door, multitasking as usual; his eyes were constantly moving to cover any potential threats and one hand held a gun as he barked into a PHS. At the same time he was blocking as much of Rufus as possible, and seemed to be trying to shove the president into the car with his butt. Jace fought down a hysterical giggle at the image; she could imagine how little it would be appreciated. _Poor Tseng, trying to protect a man who seems determined to stay in the thick of it. _Peering around, she decided to obey Rufus and stay put. _Was that Julian's reddish brown hair a few feet away, among the bystanders who were also trying to become one with the concrete?_ That unmoving lump next to maybe-Julian might have been Guntersson, but Jace couldn't tell and chose not to focus on it.

There was a lull and Jace looked back toward the car in time to see Reno appear next to Tseng, his face split in a feral grin. His shirt had splatters of red on it and his EMR was out. _Oh hell. That must have been the crackling noise… things have gone seriously pear-shaped!_

"Those you killed will be remembered. Their names will be sung by our brothers and sisters," a man's voice crooned. It came from in front of Jace and she watched as Reno, Tseng and Rufus turned to look. She dared turn her head just far enough to spy the speaker and decided that for an assassin, he was rather nondescript.

_Who is he talking about? _Then Jace remembered the blood on Reno's shirt. _Oh. This guy has friends. Or he used to…_

Brown hair, plain features and muddy-colored street clothes; no one would have given him a second glance. The only interesting things about him were the maniacal glint in his eyes and the materia-studded metal gauntlet he wore. As Jace watched, the man strode forward, seemingly unperturbed by the scene around him.

"But my name will be remembered most of all. For my deeds will be the greatest. First, two of the captains of hell," he said, pointing the gauntlet towards Reno and Tseng, "and then the dark one himself."

A fireball erupted from the gauntlet and Jace closed her eyes against the white-hot flare. The heat when it passed was so intense Jace could feel her clothes react and her unprotected legs felt as if they were being flash cooked. It took a moment for her to understand that the smell of burnt hair was hers and then another moment to check with one hand that she'd only been singed. When she dared look again, the door of the car was shut. _Tseng must have won his battle to shove Rufus to safety. _A black line scorched into the sidewalk and the smoking side of the vehicle marked the path of the incendiary. A few people behind the attacker screamed and one even got up and ran. Jace paid them barely any attention, her focus on something else entirely. Reno was just _gone_.

_I-… He must have gotten into the car right? RIGHT? _But even as she reassured herself, she worried. _What're the chances that all three men had managed to throw themselves into the car and close the door?_

The assassin was still standing in the same place, appearing disappointed and confused. Jace's eyes darted from him to the car.

_Go. Go! You're all in there, you have to be! So leave already before he gets it together and fries you and me to boot!_ Just as Jace decided to run for it, Reno reappeared, and faced off against the foe. He blurred, and the next clear view Jace had was of the Turk holding his attacker aloft by the throat and grinning.

The man struggled to aim his gauntleted arm and Reno's grin widened as he first brought his E.M.R sharply down on his prey's wrist before striking the other man's face. The man emitted a wheezing howl and tried to clutch at his nose. Reno laughed and struck the metal gauntlet again, but this time much harder. The would-be assassin screamed in anger. He didn't seem inclined to give up though, because he lashed out with a booted foot and Reno went down. Yanking free, the man stumbled backward a step, his eyes wide as if he couldn't believe he was free. But he regrouped quickly and brought his arm up again, no doubt intending to fire another blast at point-blank range.

This time, Reno's fingers clawed into his enemy's throat as he rammed his E.M.R. into the man's chest. For just a second Reno glared into his erstwhile attackers' eyes; the man whimpered and Jace could hardly blame him. The crackling noise she'd heard earlier started again; once, twice the man jerked and twisted, then fell limply to the ground. Watching the Turk coolly electrocute someone without being affected was… frightening. Reno nudged the fallen man with the toe of his boot before surveying the scene. When his predatory gaze swept over Jace, she quailed and remained very, very still even though the altercation was obviously over.

Reno stood there for a minute, scanning the surroundings and occasionally kicking the assassin in the side. She started when strong hands took hold of her arms and hauled her up. Tseng, the owner of the hands, was checking her for damage, looking for all the world like a man who hadn't just escaped being barbequed. He seemed satisfied with his inspection and bundled her into the limo; she was still too stunned to resist. _I wonder what happened to Guntersson and Julian?_ She looked around as if the two men might materialize in the empty seats but it was only Tseng, Rufus, herself and the driver. _Is that one of the Elite Security Team? Kinda hard to tell from the back of their head._

"Are you alright?"

Startled, Jace looked at Tseng; his gaze flickered over to Rufus and her glance followed his. Her boss studied her intently as he again asked, "Are you injured, Miss Guerin?"

Slowly shaking her head, Jace returned the visual inspection. _He looks… kinda cute actually._ Rufus' hair was sticking out in all directions, there were black marks on his immaculate coat and his trousers were rumpled and dusty. _Definitely cute. Also definitely tired, poor thing_. The signs of fatigue were subtle; a slight droop to his shoulders, the way his eyes weren't open as widely as normal and the fact that he hadn't fixed his hair yet.

After she responded in the negative, Rufus took a slow deep breath and turned to speak to Tseng in hushed tones. They conferred briefly before Tseng turned away to type something into his PHS and Rufus gazed out the window. It was everything Jace could do not to move into the empty space on Rufus' other side and just cuddle him. _That man needs a hug. And if he doesn't, __I__ sure as hell do. I doubt Tseng would go for it though._

Well, if hugging was out, verbal comfort was going to have to do. Not that Jace couldn't appreciate this glimpse of Rufus Shinra: Human, but it just seemed _wrong_ to leave the fact unacknowledged. _When all else fails, use sarcasm._ She leaned back in her seat and spoke as nonchalantly as possible. "If I knew I was going to get shot at," she said calmly, "I would wear less white." Rufus raised an eyebrow; Jace smiled wryly.

"Your concern for my wardrobe is duly noted," he replied, a small smirk very much in evidence and his eyes brighter. _There,_ she thought, _that's much better_.

The rest of the drive back to the Shinra Building was accomplished in silence. Just as the car entered the parking garage, Rufus' phone rang. A brief conversation followed and as it progressed, he appeared increasingly annoyed although his voice did not change. Hanging up, he declared, "Reeve wishes to assure himself that Miss Guerin is unharmed. Deliver her to the W.R.O. offices." As the limo pulled into the reserved section, Tseng produced a comb and Rufus spent a few moments fixing his hair.

The limo door opened to reveal Rude. Tseng briskly exited, asking questions and issuing orders. Rufus was next, with nary a backward glance. She barely caught a glimpse of his backside before Rude firmly closed the door and the car pulled away from the curb.

The trip to the W.R.O. was accomplished in complete silence. When the limo pulled up in front of the building a few blocks away, Jace awkwardly called her thanks to the driver as she let herself out. Shestood on the sidewalk for a moment, just… breathing.

"You're welcome."

Jace barely managed _not_ to jump and in a panic, spun to face the speaker. The woman breezily grinned and gestured towards the entrance. "So… shall we?"


End file.
